Just one day after surviving a vote of no confidence, British Prime Minister Theresa May hit a stumbling block in Brussels as European Union leaders flatly refused to renegotiate an earlier Brexit agreement, leaving May without any obvious pathway forward. Back in the United Kingdom, there is no political coalition large enough to approve of May’s original deal, which includes an unpalatable “backstop” that could cleave Northern Ireland from the mainland and leave Britain in a state of de-facto vassalage. The E.U., meanwhile, remains unwilling to provide May with the concessions she desperately needs to avoid an even worse, “no-deal” scenario. As Xavier Bettel, the prime minister of Luxembourg, told a reporter on Thursday afternoon, shortly before the European Council summit began, “The Brexit is your choice, not mine.” At a press conference afterward, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker derided the entire debate as “nebulous and imprecise”; May, confronting Juncker on Friday morning, appeared furious.

The objective of May’s trip to Brussels had been to garner support for a “two-stage” approach to the Brexit deal, which would require the EU27 to release an immediate statement of reassurance before a longer-term legal reworking of the deal in the coming weeks. Fundamental to this plan was setting out a pledge to broker a trade agreement by the close of 2021, before the imposition of the backstop. The proposal was not received warmly. “You cannot put a fixed date in writing,” argued May’s ally, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. “What would happen if you have a fixed date and no new relationship?” German chancellor Angela Merkel was also critical: “The backstop is the insurance policy in case that [trade deal] doesn’t happen within this time,” she said. “So we can’t name any other deadline.”

The negotiations were likely over before they began. According to the Times, European leaders congregated at a private dinner Thursday, and decided they would not aid May in her attempts to sell her deal to Parliament. Indeed, many expressed skepticism that May would have the political authority to push through any deal, given her withering support and promise to leave office before the next election. Agreeing that supporting Ireland and protecting the backstop in order to uphold the Good Friday Agreement was of utmost importance, they altered a draft declaration of reassurance, deleting language that indicated the possibility of concessions down the line.

Speaking at a joint press conference on Friday afternoon, Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, European Council president Donald Tusk, and Juncker were affable, but firm. Europe, explained Tusk, has “no mandate” to renegotiate the Brexit agreement, though he would remain at May’s “disposal.” Juncker, still trying to walk back his “nebulous” comment, offered general reassurances that the next stage of negotiations (after Britain had accepted the deal on the table) would be conducted swiftly and in good faith, in order to avoid the dreaded backstop. (Distrustful British M.P.s will surely remain unmoved.)

Although May’s government remains outwardly positive that concessions can be made and a deal will be passed, the E.U.’s inflexibility will only fuel the political maelstrom in Parliament, where Remainers and Brexiteers are unified in agreement that May’s deal is dead. For Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, 10 Downing Street has never seemed closer. (Corbyn is delaying his own motion of no confidence until victory seems inevitable.) Within May’s hopelessly fractured Conservative Party, meanwhile, the next steps are unclear. Bruised but by no means broken, following their failure to oust May earlier in the week, hard-liners will likely ramp up their calls to crash out of the E.U. without any deal, rather than bow to Brussels.

May, of course, is showing no signs of deviating from her course, and will likely spend Christmas buttering up errant party members and E.U. power brokers ahead of a final vote in Parliament, which must take place before January 21. At the close of another dramatic week, Brexit does, indeed, look nebulous. “I’m having difficulty understanding my own state of mind,” said Juncker on Thursday. “It’s even harder to understand the state of mind of the British M.P.s.”

More Great Stories from Vanity Fair

— The Democrats are facing a generational reckoning

— How a movie producer and Hollywood invented conservative commentator Ben Shapiro

— Real estate, greed, extortion: a true tale of Miami Vice

— Sandra Bland’s sisters are still searching for answers about her death

— It sure looks like Saudi Arabia used veterans to funnel money to Trump

Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hive newsletter and never miss a story.