The UK says it will take all steps to ensure peace in Northern Ireland

UK and EU flags

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said on Tuesday it would take all necessary steps to safeguard peace in Northern Ireland, as it urged the European Union to show imagination in negotiations to solve problems over post-Brexit trade rules.

London and Brussels have been trying for months to break the deadlock over the deal, which effectively created a customs barrier at sea between Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, and the rest of the country to keep the county’s open land border with Ireland, part of the European Union.

The UK wants a full review of the deal and has hinted that part of it could be suspended unilaterally if a new deal with the EU is not reached, while the EU seeks changes to the terms of the existing deal.

“We will continue to talk to the European Union, but we will not let this hinder the protection of peace and stability in Northern Ireland,” said a British document published on Tuesday to accompany the government’s new legislative agenda.

“We are asking our EU partners to work with us, with fresh imagination and flexibility, to solve this problem.”

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said no decisions had been made yet on the next steps.

The deadlock over the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol has stymied the formation of a new government in the British province after last week’s election.

Irish nationalist Sinn Fein, who accepts the protocol because of his goal of Irish unity, has emerged as the largest party in the election, while the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which fears the protocol will erode relations with the rest of the United Kingdom. He came in second place.

(Reporting by William James and Kylie McClellan)