The Taoiseach has warned that the British Government must drop its "red lines" if it wants to get changes to the Brexit deal.
Speaking to the i newspaper in Belfast, Leo Varadkar said that if the UK crashes out without a deal it will be a "consequence of decisions made in London."
It comes after the UK Cabinet Minister Michael Gove accused the EU of "refusing to negotiate."
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted that there can be no deal unless the Irish border backstop is abolished.
The EU has said it is open to changes to the political declaration that compliments the agreement to ensure the backstop never comes into force; however, it remains an essential insurance mechanism and an integral part of the agreement.
"Red lines"
Mr Varadkar told the i that the agreement was negotiated over two years based on “red lines that were drawn up by the British Government.”
“Now if we’re going back to square one and those red lines are being changed, then we’ve something to talk about,” he said.
Brexit Withdrawal Agreement
He rejected attempts from London to frame the agreement as something that had been invented in Dublin or imposed by the EU.
“That is not the case,” he said. “There is an attempt to make out that it’s undemocratic too but it has been agreed by 28 governments – including the UK Government – and the European Parliament, all of which followed democratic procedures.”
He has also re-issued his invite for Mr Johnson to visit Dublin for talks on Brexit and Northern Ireland, “without preconditions.”
Damage limitation
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister has called on all sides to begin works on avoiding the “very worst consequences” of a no deal scenario.
Paschal Donohoe was speaking after a meeting with the UK Chancellor Sajid Javid in London.
“We should be concentrating our efforts on seeing – with the time that is still available; with the options that are there – are there ways of avoiding the really big consequences of a hard Brexit and what it could mean for Ireland, what it could mean for the UK and for the EU,” he said.
Both men used the meeting to discuss ways of avoiding a hard border – while re-stating their positions on the backstop.
