The Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveni said the European Union was ready to talk to the UK to resolve their trade dispute in Northern Ireland, but the current Northern Ireland Protocol agreement must remain.

"This is a response to the demands of Northern Ireland as a whole. "Let us not forget that Northern Ireland voted against Brexit," he said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, where he said his colleagues had asked him for an update on the situation in London.

"But that does not mean we should not try to accept other positions. "This is the approach we need to take, not the threats of unilateral action, which are profoundly useless."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he wants to resolve a stalemate with the European Union over post-Brexit Northern Ireland trade rules, but has kept open the option of unilateral action that the EU says could spark a trade war.

Johnson was due to travel to Belfast today to urge local political leaders to form a new government to share power, a key institution under the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement.

"It is undoubtedly a reasonable landing site where everyone's interests are protected," he said. "Our common goal must be to create the widest possible inter-community support for the Reformed Protocol in 2024."