France's Macron to Discuss Brexit with Britain's Johnson in Coming Weeks

The two leaders spoke on Thursday, and Macron’s talks with Johnson would be in regard to the demands of the European Union about Brexit, the official added.

On entering Downing Street on Wednesday, Johnson set up a showdown with the EU by vowing to negotiate a new deal and threatening that, if the bloc refused, he would take Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 without a deal.

One of the main areas of contention between Britain and the EU over the terms of Brexit has been the Irish backstop.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said this week there would be no withdrawal agreement or subsequent trade pact with Britain if it did not accept the backstop, Reuters reported.

The backstop is an insurance policy to provisionally keep Britain in a customs union with the EU, pending a better solution, to prevent the return of a hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also told Johnson this week that a divorce deal agreed by predecessor Theresa May last November was the best and only deal with the European Union.

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