Britain will not start exit talks with the European Union until our objectives are clear and that wont be this year, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday, at her first meeting with a European Union leader as the United Kingdom begins the long, uncertain process of leaving the bloc.

May met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, on her first foreign trip as Britains leader. At a joint news conference, the two women conveyed a desire to work together but little sense of urgency, or a concrete idea of how the complex divorce process will play out.

May said Britain won't invoke Article 50 of the EU constitution, triggering formal exit talks, this year. All of us will need time to prepare for these negotiations, she said.

Merkel signaled that Germany was prepared to wait.

She said it is up to the British government to define its principles for the EU exit and also to trigger the necessary steps. She said its only then that negotiations for the exit can take place.