Merkel slaps down May

German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday insisted that the EU's future took priority over Brexit talks as Prime Minister Theresa May met European leaders for the first time since a disastrous election gamble.

Under intense pressure on all sides since losing her majority, May said her task at the Brussels summit would be to set out her plans to protect EU citizens' post-Brexit rights.

But Merkel, Europe's most powerful leader, made clear that this was not at the top of her agenda as she reaffirmed Berlin's strong ties with France and its newly elected President Emmanuel Macron.

"For me the shaping of the future of the 27 is a priority coming before the issue of the negotiations with Britain on the exit," Merkel said. "We want to conduct these negotiations in a good spirit but the clear focus has to be on the future of the 27."

Macron, attending his first summit, did not mention Brexit directly but said it was now time to get down to concrete work -- "hand in hand with Germany" -- on putting EU back on track after years of austerity and crisis.

May was set to brief EU leaders on her Brexit plans over dinner yesterday, before being kicked out while the remaining 27 discuss key issues including the future location of the EU's medicines and banking agencies, currently based in Britain.

For her part, May said she would set out "clearly how the UK proposes to protect the rights of EU citizens in the UK and see the rights of UK citizens living in Europe protected."

The fate of an estimated three million Europeans living in Britain and around one million Britons living elsewhere in the EU was thrown into doubt by Britain's vote to leave the bloc last year.

May had previously refused to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in Britain until those of expatriate Britons were secured.

Earlier, EU president Donald Tusk had channelled former Beatle John Lennon as he said he hoped Brexit could be reversed -- though others immediately poured cold water on the idea.

But Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel -- who has strongly argued for EU unity on Brexit -- said Tusk should let it be.

"It's time for action and certainty. Not for dreams and uncertainty #Brexit #Future of Europe," Michel tweeted.

Meanwhile Macron and Merkel are expected to recommend another six-month rollover of tough economic sanctions imposed against Russia in 2014 over the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed 10,000 lives.

Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker are also expected to report on recent meetings with US President Donald Trump, who has alarmed the EU and NATO with his "America First" approach.