article: The prime minister said the UK should still be part of summits and negotiations when matters affecting all 28 member states were being discussed. Sources have denied the issue was the subject of a row at a dinner at the EU summit - Mrs May's first as PM. Both the French president and German chancellor warned if Mrs May pursued a "hard Brexit", talks would be hard too. Arriving at the summit in Brussels on Thursday, Mrs May pledged to continue to "work closely" with the EU after Brexit. She stressed it was important to have a "united European stance" against "Russian aggression" that included "sickening" violence in Syria. She told fellow leaders they "must be ready to take steps to change Russia's approach and the way it thinks about this if we are ever to bring an end to the violence in Syria", according to No 10 sources. Before sitting down for a dinner with fellow EU leaders that included pan-fried scallops, crown of lamb with roast fig and iced vanilla parfait, sources said Mrs May raised the issue of continuing UK participation in negotiations at an earlier meeting. Sources said she was keen that the UK was still fully included in discussions that affected all members - particularly on security issues - but denied she was concerned about being "frozen out". Troubled by the need to find a common approach to Russian ambitions in Syria, and distracted by a faltering trade deal with Canada, the EU's leaders didn't have Brexit at the top of this summit agenda. So long did proceedings over-run that it was reportedly 01:00 local time before Mrs May took the floor to offer a Brexit briefing. And brief it proved to be - EU sources said she spoke for around five minutes and there were no speeches in response from the other leaders. She used the summit though to make an important point - that just as Brexit means Brexit, so the UK remains IN the EU until the moment when it's officially out. The British view is that that means the 27 countries that will remain shouldn't jump the gun in starting to make decisions that exclude the UK. That message has now been delivered. But German MEP Manfred Weber told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's not really normal that such a member who wants to leave a club like the EU also wants to decide the future of this club. That's really creating a lot of anger; the behaviour of the British government." The prime minister has promised to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - beginning two years of formal exit negotiations with the EU - by the end of March. This means Brexit, backed in a UK-wide referendum in June, will take place by the summer of 2019. The Brussels summit is not focused on Brexit but on issues like migration, trade and relations with Russia. On arrival, Mrs May said: "The UK is leaving the EU, but we will continue to play a full role until we leave and
summary: Britain expects to be part of EU decision-making until Brexit, Theresa May has told fellow EU leaders.