Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May waits for her New Zealand's counterpart Jacinda Ardern at Downing Street in London, Britain, January 21, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday she was looking forward to exploring a proposal put forward by Poland’s foreign minister for a time limit on the Irish backstop.

Poland’s Jacek Czaputowicz said earlier on Monday he had proposed limiting the backstop - an insurance policy to avoid the return of a hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland - to five years in order to break the Brexit deadlock. The idea was immediately knocked back by Ireland as being out of step with the EU’s stance.

“I look forward to exploring in more detail the proposals that have been put forward by the Polish foreign minister on this particular issue of dealing with the backstop,” May told parliament when asked about the comments.