The Latest: Divorce bill focus of Brexit talks on Monday

The Latest on Britain's upcoming talks to leave the European Union (all times local):

4:55 p.m.

Top negotiators will on Monday discuss Britain's financial obligations to the European Union as the long and complicated process of the U.K. leaving the bloc finally gets underway.

The EU's executive Commission said in a statement Friday that the first round of negotiations in Brussels will be part of a "sequenced approach to the talks."

The EU has insisted that this sequence involve sorting out Britain's departure and urgent issues like the rights of citizens affected by Brexit before the shape of future ties or trade are discussed.

The unprecedented negotiations come almost exactly a year after Britons voted last June 23 to leave the EU. The talks must be completed and endorsed by parliaments by the end of March 2019.