Kerry, after describing his first meeting with the newly appointed minister, said, “I know Boris is fully prepared to jump into our agenda and has the readiness to see it through, with same sense of goal [as his predecessors]”.
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He would be late for a meeting with Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief.
Johnson insisted he wanted to “get on with the very heavy agenda we have before us today”, including discussing the ongoing conflict in Syria and the failed coup attempt in Turkey (although he appeared, twice, to confuse the country with Egypt). “That’s the Boris Johnson I have met, and that’s the Boris Johnson that I intend to work with and we intend to make good things happen together”. Ayrault also called for a quick start to formal talks on Britain’s exit from the 28-nation bloc to end what he called the current situation of uncertainty as to the country’s intentions and relationship with its European partners.
Noting that the United Kingdom was unable to sign an agreement until after it has left the EU, Kerry nonetheless said: “We are absolutely prepared to engage in conversations, it would be irresponsible not to”. “What is certainly possible post-leaving the European Union, and once we end our obligations under uncontrolled free movement, it will be possible to have a system of control”, he told reporters.
The normally ebullient Johnson was on his best behaviour after infuriating his partners in the run-up to the referendum by comparing the EU’s ambitions for closer European integration to Adolf Hitler’s.
The Reuters news agency reported that Johnson said on July 19 it would take far too long for him to apologise for the “rich thesaurus” of rude comments and insults he has directed at world leaders and others over the years.
“Our ambassador to the E.U.in Brussels, who I just spent the evening with the other night, had the privilege of going to Oxford [University] with Boris Johnson”, he said.
Former London mayor and leading “Leave” campaigner in the lead-up to the Brexit referendum, Johnson was made foreign secretary by new British Prime Minister Theresa May last Wednesday.
John Kerry said the special relationship with the United Kingdom was as essential as ever, despite the country’s vote to leave the EU.
Johnson’s own influence in the Brexit process may be limited however as Prime Minister May has named leading Conservative eurosceptic David Davis as a special minister for Brexit.
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Johnson hit back: “I appreciate the first amendment and your right to free speech but I think we need chapter and verse on this stuff…”
