British Brexit Minister David Frost said on Friday there remained significant differences between the British and European Union positions on Northern Ireland and that triggering Article 16 was still "on the table".
"There are a large number of issues that need to be fixed if we're going to resolve this problem. That's obviously part of the discussion, but they are still really quite significant gaps between us unfortunately," Frost told reporters before a meeting with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic.
Frost said he did not expect any breakthroughs in their talks on Friday. "Obviously our preference is to see if we can find a negotiated way through this problem and if we can't Article 16 remains on the table."