The Brexit process has turned into a “nightmare”, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg has said after holding talks with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Xavier Bettel said Mr Johnson had failed to put forward any serious plans to allow a deal by October 31.
But Mr Johnson, who cancelled his press conference because of the noise from protesters, said “there’s been a lot of work” and “papers have been shared”.
He urged the European Union (EU) to make “movement” in its opposition to scrap the backstop.
Mr Johnson said his joint press conference was cancelled over fears the two leaders would have been “drowned out” by pro-EU protesters.
“I don’t think it would have been fair to the prime minister of Luxembourg.
“I think there was clearly going to be a lot of noise and I think our points might have been drowned out,” he said.
Political editor Laura Kuenssberg said that Number 10 had asked for the press conference to be held inside, according to sources.
Mr Bettel, who conducted the planned press conference alone, said the “only solution” was the existing withdrawal agreement.
He said there were “no concrete proposals at the moment on the table” from the UK and said the EU “needs more than just words”.
“We need written proposals and the time is ticking, so stop speaking and act.
“But we won’t accept any agreement that goes against a single market, who will be against the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.
Away from the crowds, Mr Johnson said the EU must make “movement” in its opposition to scrap the Irish backstop, but insisted there was “just the right amount of time” to get a deal done.
When asked what concrete proposals he had made, Mr Johnson said “there’s been a lot of work” and “papers have been shared”.
“We’ve got to manage this carefully. Yes, we’ve got a good chance of a deal. Yes, I can see the shape of it. Everybody could see roughly what could be done,” he said.
He reiterated that the UK will come out of the EU on October 31 “deal or no deal”. -BBC
