Johnson Says 'Puzzled’ Over Letter by Paris Asking for London to Be Punished for Brexit

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday he was "puzzled," reading a letter from French Prime Minister Jean Castex, asking for London to be punished for leaving the EU.

Earlier this week, Politico reported, citing a letter by Castex to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, that France privately requested Brussels to step up its opposition to London's actions in the ongoing fishing row and show to the public that it is more damaging to leave the EU than to stay.

"On the fishing issue, the position is unchanged and I quill just say this for the record I must, I was puzzled to read a letter from the French prime minister asking for Britain to be punished for leaving the EU and I do not believe that this compatible with the spirit of the letter of the withdrawal agreement or the trading cooperation agreement," Johnson told a press conference at the end of the G20 meeting in Rome.

In early October, Castex called on the European Commission to monitor London's compliance with commitments under the agreement on fishing rights and did not rule out a revision of bilateral cooperation with London in various areas in case of non-compliance with the agreements.

France threatened to tighten port controls on Wednesday to force its neighbour to allow more French fishing boats into British waters and arrested a British trawler in Le Havre overnight for catching scallops in its waters without a license. Commenting on the move, Johnson told Sky News that he did not reject the possibility of taking legal action against France.