UK-France fish spat deepens despite Macron-Johnson meeting

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have met privately to try to resolve an escalating dispute over fishing in the English Channel

ROME -- French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met privately on Sunday to try to resolve an escalating dispute over fishing in the English Channel — but afterward the two countries appeared farther apart than ever and gave starkly differing versions of the meeting's outcome.

The post-Brexit spat over the granting of licenses to fish in Britain's coastal waters threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats.

After the 30-minute meeting between Macron and Johnson on the fringes of a Group of 20 summit in Rome, a French top official said both leaders agreed there was a need to talk to each other “in a situation of important tensions.” He said measures need to be taken “as soon as possible” to get to a de-escalation.

Britain, however, denied the leaders had agreed to take steps to de-escalate the spat, saying it was entirely up to France to calm the waters.