Donald Tusk, 60, met with Theresa May, 60, today after the Prime Minister delivered a major speech in Florence last week.
Tusk warned that there is not “sufficient progress” for negotiations to progress as they emerged from their meeting.
But how much control of the situation did May appear when the pair first greeted each other in front of photographers. Author and body language expert Judi James has decoded their body language.
According to Judi, May and Tusk needed to illustrate their personal approaches to the tricky Brexit negotiations here, and the overall performed message created by both is one of warmth, flexibility and a polite desire for rapport.
She said: “There’s none of the kind of naked posturing and chest-beating signals of aggressive arousal that we’ve been force-fed from the White House recently, just a far more adult sense of equals meeting with mutual goals in mind.”
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Judi adds that Theresa May has performed what is called an act of inconvenience here to show her respect for Tusk.
She said: “Political leaders (and royalty) have a pecking order of meeting spots depending on the status of their guests. For low-level ones they stay in their homes or offices and get a flunky to usher the guest in, but the higher the importance the further out they emerge to greet them or bid them farewell.
“May seems to have gone a good way down Downing Street to welcome Tusk and shot of picking him up from Heathrow herself in an Uber the acts of inconvenience don’t get more inconvenient than that.
“The actual greeting looks friendly and quite intimate with the pair standing toe-to-toe for a cheek kiss and hand-hold plus some cheeky-looking eye contact and mutual grinning that suggests the pair don’t intend any negotiations to become personal.”
So what about the subtler points of power and control that might give some clues about who will have the advantage in wily negotiating skills once the pair get down to business at No 10?
Judi said: “Tusk’s body language is resolutely charming but he seems to be over-keen to score some sneaky early control points over May here, which can be a sign of weakness.
“When they walk in for the kiss it’s Tusk who flings his hands out palm-up to steer the ritual and when they pose on the steps of No 10 it appears to be Tusk who instigates the hand shake for the press.
“Instigating the greetings is very much the role of the hose so he’s quietly making himself feel like the leader with the slight upper hand.”
But May apparently shows stronger signals in terms of negotiating skills.
Judi explained: “her greeting is charming but her formal posture and the way she employs eye contact while keeping his hand dangling suggests she’s no push-over.
“May tends to be skilled at the art of lulling opponents into a false sense of security, using non-combative body language signals until the moment it counts and then showing her steel and firmness.
“Her flattering greeting might well form part of that classic approach to negotiations.”
Theresa May delivered a landmark speech on Brexit in Florence last week. But was the British Prime Minister confident in outlining her plans and how will other EU leaders perceive her?