The UK and EU are “inching towards a conclusion” on revising post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, the Irish prime minister has said.

An agreement is possible “but by no means guaranteed”, Leo Varadkar added.

Momentum has been building through weeks of fraught talks and a deal to ease checks on trade introduced under the Northern Ireland Protocol is expected within days.

Conservative MPs have been told they must be in Westminster on Monday, suggesting a deal could be imminent.

“I think the talks on reforming the protocol are inching towards a conclusion,” Mr Varadkar said.

“Certainly the deal isn’t done yet, but I do think we are inching towards a conclusion.

“There is the possibility of agreement in the next few days but by no means guaranteed… There’s still a gap to be closed,” Mr Varadkar said, adding there is ongoing engagement between the UK government and European Commission.

King Charles was due to meet EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen in final part of NI Protocol negotiations

New Brexit deal on Northern Ireland thought to be close as Tory MPs told they ‘must be in Westminster on Monday’

Brexit: Boris Johnson casts doubt on Rishi Sunak’s NI Protocol negotiations – refusing to say he would back a new deal

Mr Varadkar, who played a key role when the protocol was agreed in 2019, encouraged politicians in London, Brussels and Northern Ireland “to go the extra mile” to reach an agreement, saying the benefits would be “huge”.

An agreement would bring an end to a two-year standoff between the UK and EU, but Mr Sunak could face a battle with pro-Brexit Tories and unionist Northern Ireland politicians to make the deal work.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

King Charles was due to meet von der Leyen

It comes after Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates revealed King Charles had been lined up by Number 10 to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today as negotiations over the protocol were poised to come to a head.

The King had been due to play a major role in the final part of the negotiations – though there was no suggestion he would have taken part in the talks.

The move could have been interpreted as the King giving his blessing to the negotiations or even endorsing the deal if it had been concluded this morning, however it was cancelled yesterday.

There were also talks about calling the potential deal the “Windsor Agreement”.

Read more: What is the Northern Ireland Protocol and why does it matter?

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

PM ‘naive’ to ‘drag King into hugely controversial political issue’

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said any Windsor rendezvous with the EU leader would have been “a cynical use” of the King’s position and would have been seen in Unionist circles as the sovereign endorsing the deal.

He branded Mr Sunak “naive” and accused him of “dragging the King into a hugely controversial political issue”.

“The only conclusion we can come to is he [Mr Sunak] knows that in these negotiations he hasn’t achieved the objectives he set out for himself and his own party,” Mr Wilson told Sky News.

“Nor has he achieved the promises that he had made to ourselves and was now trying to get the King to pull the thing over the line for him.”

Related posts:

Sister of murdered MP Jo Cox seeks to be Labour by-election candidate PM’s declarations for Downing Street flat refurb to be published this month Labour MP to temporarily step back from shadow cabinet following Plymouth shootings UK’s LGBT+ business champion quits over transgender conversion therapy row National insurance rise: How will it work and what will it mean for you? At least 50 more fines have been issued in partygate investigation COVID-19 inquiry to focus on pandemic’s impact on mental health, children and young people Ministers can keep some documents on Rwanda policy secret, High Court rules MP who travelled between Scotland and London in 2020 admits breaching COVID rules Sir Keir warns mini-budget ‘does nothing’ for working people – but doesn’t say if he would reverse tax cuts Starmer urged to let Corbyn stand as Labour candidate at next election Inside the Westminster Accounts – how the database was created