British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson wrote Monday to EU President Donald Tusk reaffirming his desire to conclude a
Brexit deal as well as his opposition to the controversial "backstop" on Ireland.
The so-called backstop is a mechanism that would keep the
UK in EU customs arrangements to prevent a hard border between the
British province of Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state.
Brussels says the backstop is needed as a fallback option to preserve the integrity of European trade and avoid risking a return of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.