Britain sought to downplay a row over future security ties with the EU on Thursday, as London and Brussels drew up the first battle lines at the start of their two-year divorce.
France and Germany also put up a common front against Prime Minister Theresa May's call to negotiate the exit and the new relationship at the same time, setting up a major stumbling block before negotiations even begin.
But a day after May formally notified the EU of Britain's intention to leave, it was her warning that failure to clinch a deal on trade would weaken the fight against terrorism that rankled.
"It's not a threat," Brexit minister David Davis told BBC radio after warnings from Brussels against using security as a bargaining chip in the talks.
The row came as some of the EU's top leaders fleshed out their strategy for the tough talks ahead as the bloc reels from the blow of one of its biggest members becoming the first state ever to start withdrawal from the 60-year-old union.
"Brexit is not the end of everything, but we must make it a beginning of something that will be new, stronger and better," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in Malta.
"I suggest we get a move on because otherwise the populists are going to keep running," he said.
French President Francois Hollande on Thursday followed German Chancellor Angela Merkel in snubbing May's proposed structure for the negotiations, saying the exit agreement should come first.
"First we must begin discussions on the modalities of the withdrawal, especially on the rights of citizens and the obligations arising from the commitments that the United Kingdom has made," Hollande said.
The fate of three million EU citizens living in Britain and one million British people within the bloc's nations is at the top of leaders' agenda.
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