Theresa May will return to Brussels on Saturday for Brexit talks, just hours before a special summit is scheduled to sign off on the EU withdrawal agreement.
The British prime minister announced the surprise move after last night's meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in the Belgium capital.
Mrs May described the meeting as "very good".
"We have made further progress and, as a result we have given sufficient direction to our negotiators, I hope, for them to be able to resolve the remaining issues – and that work will start immediately," she said.
"I now plan to return for further meetings, including with President Juncker on Saturday to discuss how we can bring to a conclusion this process and bring it to a conclusion in the interests of all our people."
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The remarks came after suggestions from Brussels that the summit set to approve the draft withdrawal agreement on Sunday could be called off unless progress is made on finalising a political declaration on future relations, with one senior official saying: "We're not there yet."
Reports suggested that Germany's ambassador to the EU had said the document must be finalised by Thursday or Chancellor Angela Merkel would not attend.
Asked whether the UK expected the summit to go ahead, the prime minister's official spokesman said only: "A summit has been called, an agenda has been published and we look forward to attending."
Meanwhile, a second Brexit referendum would "prolong the agony and deepen the division", a Remain-supporting Tory grandee has warned.
Conservative former MP Lord Cormack, a persistent opponent of Brexit, stressed the need for clarity and certainty as he argued at Westminster against a so-called People's Vote.
Tory former lord chancellor Lord Mackay of Clashfern was also against a further public poll, but argued that in the face of an impasse, Parliament should be able to vote on remaining in the EU.
Earlier, Conservative former Cabinet minister Lord Deben, who sat in the Commons as John Gummer, criticised the prime minister's draft withdrawal agreement, arguing it would leave Britain in "a significantly worse position" than its current EU membership.
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Speaking in the upper chamber, Lord Cormack said: "If we want clarity, if we want certainty, all that a so-called people's vote can do is prolong the agony, deepen the division and make it far more difficult to come to a sensible conclusion."
Labour's Lord Foulkes of Cumnock claimed the likes of Lord Cormack and the CBI were only "cosying up" up to the proposed Brexit agreement because they were "absolutely scared" of the no-deal alternative.
The former minister said: "Around the country there is a momentum, if you will excuse the word, growing in favour of a people's vote."
