LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to reopen the deal to leave the European Union and to replace the Irish border backstop, his office said on Tuesday, stressing the need for a renegotiation even though the EU said a new deal was not possible.

"It is clear that unless the Withdrawal Agreement is reopened and the backstop abolished there is no prospect of a deal," Downing Street said in a statement after European Council President Donald Tusk said Johnson had not proposed realistic alternatives to the so-called Irish "backstop".

"We are ready to negotiate, in good faith, an alternative to the backstop," it added.