A SPECIAL Brexit summit has been ruled out after EU leaders agreed that not enough progress has been made in negotiations.

After hearing a 15-minute presentation from British Prime Minister Theresa May in Brussels yesterday, the 27 EU leaders do not plan to organise a special summit

Ms May did not offer fresh proposals to break the impasse in talks, but if decisive progress is made in the next few weeks, the leaders agreed a meeting would be convened.

The British PM said she is still fully committed to a legally operable backstop to guarantee no return of a hard border in Northern Ireland.

Ms May said: “We have shown that we can bring difficult deals together constructively. I remain confident of a good outcome.”

“The last stage will need courage, trust and leadership on both sides.”

Ms May met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar earlier in the day, and expressed that she still had “a strong determination to do a deal”.

According to Irish officials, Ms May reconfirmed commitment to agree to a backstop that will remain in place until a better agreement can be made between the UK and the EU.

EU and UK negotiators will resume talks quickly to make enough progress to justify calling a summit next month to finalise an agreement.

The Taoiseach said that the key issue of agreeing the backstop deal is not only an issue of substance, but “an issue of trust” ahead of his meeting with Ms May.

Mr Varadkar said he could support a one-year extension to the two-year Brexit transition period, which will run after March 29 next year — but warned it could not be a substitute for the backstop.

He said: “From Ireland’s point of view we’re willing to hear any proposals that might help to bring about a solution.

“A lot of us feel that negotiating a new economic and security relationship between the EU and UK within two years would be a real challenge and bear in mind within those two years you’d have to negotiate this new relationship, and it also has to be ratified by 28 parliaments.

“But I really need to say though that any extension to the transition period couldn’t be a substitute for the backstop.

“We would still need to have that, but perhaps it would allow people to have greater confidence than it would ever need to be invoked.”