Welcome to The Independent's liveblog, where we will be bringing you the latest updates as EU leaders meet to discuss Brexit at a crucial summit.
Fresh from a bruising Commons defeat on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, Theresa May accepted EU plans to postpone trade talks until March when she attended a dinner with senior figures during the two-day European Council meeting.
All eyes are now on the other 27 leaders, who will decided whether sufficient progress has been made to move onto the next stage of the Brexit talks.
For the latest updates, see below:
Ms May made a pre-dawn dash to Brussels last week to sign off the draft agreement over the first phase of the Brexit talks, which centred on the issues of the Irish border, citizens' rights and the so-called divorce bill.
However her relief was short-lived as Tory rebels banded together to inflict a humiliating defeat on the Government over its Brexit legislation, which would allow MPs to have a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal.
