Brexit talks with EU to intensify, PM Johnson rules out exit delay

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker agreed that Brexit talks "needed to intensify", with daily meetings between officials, Downing Street said Monday.

"The leaders agreed that the discussions needed to intensify and that meetings would soon take place on a daily basis," the prime minister's office said following the first face-to-face talks between the pair in Luxembourg.

Downing Street said in a statement that Johnson and Juncker had a "constructive meeting" over lunch.

They "took stock" of the talks so far, and Johnson reconfirmed his determination to reach a deal with the Irish border backstop removed, the statement said. The PM also "reiterated that he would not request an extension and would take the UK out of the EU on the 31st October".

Johnson insists Britain must leave the European Union on schedule, with or without a divorce deal with Brussels.

The British parliament has passed a law requiring Johnson to ask for an extension should he not be able to strike a withdrawal agreement and gain MPs' approval for it by October 19.

Johnson hopes to come away from the October 17-18 EU summit with a deal. The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and Britain's Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay also attended the talks in Luxembourg.

"It was agreed that talks should also take place at a political level between Michel Barnier and the Brexit secretary, and conversations would also continue between President Juncker and the prime minister," the Downing Street statement said.