LONDON (Reuters) – Britain hopes to get a Brexit trade deal but the European Union must understand that it is now dealing with a sovereign nation, Business Secretary Alok Sharma said on Wednesday.

“I hope that we will end up with a free trade agreement,” Sharma told Sky. “We have made progress but there is still some way to go and we need to make sure that the EU understands that the UK is a sovereign nation and that’s the basis on which our arrangement with the EU is in the future.”