THERESA May has agreed with Michel Barnier and Jean-Claude Juncker that Brexit efforts should "accelerate" following crunch talks in Brussels.
Joined by Brexit Secretary David Davis, the Prime Minister had dinner with the Commission president and EU chief negotiator this evening in the hope of ending a stalemate over the UK’s Brexit divorce settlement.
It came days after Mr Barnier said the negotiations were deadlocked over the size of the UK’s payments.
A statement released after this evening's dinner on behalf of both parties said the meeting had seen a “broad, constructive exchange” and agreement the pace of negotiations should increase in the coming months.
It said: "As regards the Article 50 negotiations, both sides agreed that these issues are being discussed in the framework agreed between the EU27 and the United Kingdom, as set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.
“The Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission reviewed the progress made in the Article 50 negotiations so far and agreed that these efforts should accelerate over the months to come.
“The working dinner took place in a constructive and friendly atmosphere."
However, it gave no indictation of when the EU will finally move on to the second phase of talks where trade and the future relationship will be discussed.
It added: ”They discussed their common interest in preserving the Iran nuclear deal and their work on strengthening the security of citizens in Europe, notably on the fight against terrorism.
“They also prepared for the European Council that will take place later this week."
Their talks are unlikely to prevent the UK's request for the negotiations to move onto trade being rebuffed at a summit of European leaders later this week.
But the dinner is expected to lead to intensified discussions about Britain's EU divorce payment over the next two months.
Following the meeting, the group were seen embracing outside the European Commission before going their separate ways.
After the fifth round of discussions were brought to a close last week, Mr Barnier said he would not recommend that talks move on to the next stage when he attends the European Council on Thursday.
Downing Street has insisted today’s meeting had "been in the diary for weeks" but comes after last week's negotiations ended with little movement.
Much to the Government's frustration, the EU wants agreement on the divorce bill, Irish border and EU citizens' rights before it will dicuss trade.
Mr Juncker had declined to comment on his expectations for the dinner, but suggested beforehand that details of their discussions would be revealed in a "post mortem" after it had concluded.
Asked about the dinner at a press conference in Brussels, the Commission president said: "I have never understood why journalists - even the most eminent journalists - ask for the outcome of a meeting before the meeting takes place.
"Yes, I'm going to see Mrs May tonight. You are going to have the report of it, it will be a post mortem report."
Also attending the dinner were Number 10 Brexit adviser Olly Robbins and Mr Juncker's chief of staff Martin Selmayr.
Mr Selmayr was widely blamed for leaking details of a previous private dinner at Number 10 in April, when Mr Juncker reportedly said he left "10 times more sceptical" than when he arrived.
The leak led to an angry response from Mrs May on the steps of Downing Street in which she warned that "there are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed".
Earlier today, in a phone call, the Prime Minister and French president Emmanuel Macron "discussed progress" in exit talks and agreed to go over "next steps" on the margins of a crunch summit of EU leaders later this week, Downing Street said.
Mrs May also discussed "the importance of maintaining constructive progress" in negotiations with Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar and reiterated Britain's commitment to maintaining a soft Irish border.
The Government wants EU leaders to expand Mr Barnier's negotiating mandate to allow some headway to be made.
The stalemate has left Mrs May under pressure from Brexiteers to prepare for a "no deal" withdrawal to show the UK is serious about walking away from talks, in the hope this could bounce the EU into action and push them forward.
But opposition parties and Remain-backing Tories have warned Parliament could stop the Government taking Britain out of the EU without an agreement in place.