London (dpa) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday said it was up to the European Union to "jump" to meet Britain halfway following his proposals to alter the country's agreement for leaving the bloc.

"The way I see it, the proposals published this week represent we in the UK jumping to the island in the middle of the river," Johnson wrote in an article published by pro-Brexit tabloid newspapers The Sun on Sunday and The Sunday Express.

"If we’re to leave with a deal, we need the EU to jump over from its side and join us there, showing its own willingness to do a deal that the UK parliament can support," he said.

Senior EU officials have rejected Johnson's proposals and urged him to provide several clarifications, with arrangements for the post-Brexit Irish border still the main sticking point.

Johnson said voters "want to move on" from Brexit, insisting that Britain will leave the bloc, with or without a deal, on October 31.

"So I say to our European friends: grasp the opportunity that our new proposal provides," he added, urging Brussels to join London "at the negotiating table in a spirit of compromise and co-operation."

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay, who is due to hold talks in Brussels on Monday, said the two sides are "approaching the moment of truth."

"The UK and the EU need to negotiate a new approach to the Irish border issue. Or we must leave without a deal," Barclay wrote in The Sunday Telegraph.

Barclay said a deal remains "doable - but only if the EU works with us."

"Brussels must now decide whether it wants to break the deadlock and see us leave on good terms with a deal, or no deal," he said.

British opposition lawmakers are expected to step up efforts in parliament from Monday to prevent a no-deal Brexit on October 31.

They have already succeeded in passing a law requiring Johnson to ask Brussels to delay Brexit if parliament has not approved a deal by the last day of October.

A document produced to a Scottish court on Friday said the government would comply with the new law, but Johnson later tweeted: "New deal or no deal - but no delay."

The Telegraph reported on Saturday that Johnson is exploring a possible veto by Hungary to any request to delay Brexit.

The report followed speculation that he may be able to avoid a delay even if Britain requests one, for example, by encouraging one of the other 27 EU member states to veto the extension.

The Sunday Times said Johnson will also resist any attempt by lawmakers to force him out of office, with a no-confidence motion in him expected to be scheduled in the next two weeks.

It quoted aides as saying Johnson plans to refuse to resign even if Brussels rejects his proposals and lawmakers try to oust him, in an "unprecedented escalation of [Britain's] constitutional crisis."