British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will talk about progress on Brexit negotiations Wednesday afternoon, Johnson's Downing Street office said Tuesday.

"They agreed to stay in touch on the progress in the negotiations when they spoke earlier this month," Downing Street said.

The meeting comes on the eve of a European Union summit set by London as a deadline for concrete progress in negotiations on a free trade agreement.

Germany and France Tuesday pressured the United Kingdom to make concessions in three key areas of Brexit trade negotiations – fishing rights, corporate governance and fair competition – or face a Jan. 1 no-deal scenario which would likely further harm a U.K. economy already battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson has long billed the two-day EU summit that starts Thursday as the deadline for a deal, but he has been prone to let target dates slip during the tortuous Brexit negotiations. The bloc has always insisted that it’s willing to negotiate until early November to craft a deal.