Brexit negotiations between the EU and Britain are entering their 'final stage' and the two sides will now negotiate 'continuously'.
Today, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier met Britain's Brexit secretary Dominic Raab.
Mr Barnier has warned that issues surrounding the Irish border need to be 'de-dramatised'.
Following today's talk, he said: "As you know, we need a legally operational backstop solution in the Withdrawal Agreement.
"We must find pragmatic solutions, in line with the commitments made by Prime Minister May in December and March.
"We must de-dramatise the issue, and spell out which controls are needed, where, and how they should be done."
Mr Raab, meanwhile, said he is confident a deal can be reached in October.
The two sides are due to meet again next week and then 'regularly' as the deadline for a deal approaches.
Good meeting with @MichelBarnier. We discussed the outstanding separation issues, the NI backstop, our future economic partnership & security cooperation. We’ll be meeting again next week, at further length, as we look to resolve all the issues we need for a deal. https://t.co/K2l0wUuHLh
— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) August 21, 2018