LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said Brexit talks were at a critical moment and that all efforts would be made to bring them to a conclusion after a framework for the future relationship with the EU was agreed on Thursday.

May said the draft future framework would allow Britain to negotiate trade deals during a transition phase and rejected any link between access to fishing waters and access to markets, adding that work on alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border in Ireland would begin before Britain left the bloc.

“The negotiations are now at a critical moment and all our efforts must be focused on working with our European partners to bring this process to a final conclusion,” she said.