French President Emmanuel Macron backed the idea of a month of further talks to find a solution to Brexit while ruling out major compromises as he met British Prime Minister ­Boris Johnson for talks on Thursday.

Like German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, Macron supported allowing another 30 days to find a solution to the vexed issue of the Irish border which has bedevilled negotiations since 2017.

"We need to try to have a useful month," Macron said alongside Johnson who insisted that solutions were "readily available" to prevent checkpoints returning in divided Ireland.

But Macron has rejected Johnson's calls to scrap a key arrangement for Ireland negotiated between the EU and former British premier Theresa May.

At stake is the so-called backstop, which is a provision guaranteeing that border checks will not return between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland which is part of Britain.

Johnson considers the backstop to be "anti-democratic" and an affront to British sovereignty because it will require London to keep its regulations aligned with the EU during a transition exit period.

"The technical solutions are readily available [to avoid checkpoints] and they have been discussed at great length," Johnson said. "You can have trusted trader schemes, you can have electronic pre-clearing."

The EU argues the backstop is necessary to avoid the re-emergence of checkpoints which could lead to a return of fighting on the divided island where anti-British violence has claimed thousands of lives.

"I want to be very clear. In the coming month, we will not find a new withdrawal agreement that is far from the fundamentals," Macron said at the Elysee Palace in central Paris.

Since Johnson's ascent to power last month, the chances of a "no deal" Brexit on October 31 have risen, which economists see as likely to wreak economic damage on Britain and the EU.

The Paris visit was the second leg of Johnson's first foreign trip as prime minister.

On Wednesday, he was in Berlin for talks with Merkel who appeared to offer a glimmer of hope by saying Britain should try to find a breakthrough to the issue over the next month.

"I want a deal," Johnson told Macron. "I think we can get a deal and a good deal."