Theresa May has dismissed reports that last week's working dinner with EU officials went disastrously as "Brussels gossip".
During a campaign stop in the Lancashire town of Ormskirk, the Prime Minister rejected a newspaper's claims that Jean-Claude Juncker thinks Brexit talks will collapse.
She told a reporter: "Just look at what the European Commission themselves said immediately after the dinner took place which was the talks had been constructive.
"But it also shows these negotiations are at times going to be tough. In order to get the best deal for Britain, we've got to make sure we've got that strong and stable leadership."
Her denial follows a German newspaper article which claimed Brussels officials thought Theresa May was from a "different galaxy" to other EU member states on Brexit.
The leaked account portrayed Jean-Claude Juncker's private dinner with the Prime Minister last week as a disaster.
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper, European Commission officials were astonished at Mrs May's ambition for the talks.
They accused her of having "no plan" and that it was unrealistic to reach a rapid resolution on the status of expatriates, an exit strategy and a trade deal within two years.
The article quotes Mr Juncker as saying that he left the dinner "10 times more sceptical that I was before".
The FAZ newspaper reported that Mrs May used the dinner to push for an early deal to secure the rights of British workers across the continent.
But Mr Juncker made clear that this could not be settled by June as suggested, given the complex negotiations on topics such as healthcare.
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