LONDON - British government officials have renewed their negotiations with the European Union, seeking to reach an agreement over Britain's departure from the EU in the run-up to a crucial European heads of states and governments summit next week.

But credible and calculated leaks to the British media, which evidently emanate from the closed circle of advisers around Prime Minister Boris Johnson, indicate that the negotiations are doomed to failure, and that a bruising showdown at next week's EU summit is now inevitable.