The European Union has had a lot of patience with Britain over Brexit but patience runs out, the head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker has said.
In an interview on Italian state TV RAI, Mr Juncker, whose words were translated into Italian, said he would like Britain to be able to reach an agreement in the coming hours and days that could be followed.
"So far we know what the British parliament says no to, but we don't know what it might say yes to," he said.
Asked if a second referendum might be possible, Mr Juncker said that was an issue exclusively for the British people.
It comes as former British Prime Minister John Major urged Theresa May not to call a general election in the coming weeks.
Speaking on BBC's Andrew Marr Show, he said that an election would "solve nothing at the moment" but said it was "entirely possible" that one could be held in the autumn.
Mr Major said the formation of a cross-party government would be in the "national interest", and warned that the current impasse threatened the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom.
Asked for his advice to Mrs May about whether or not she should call an election this week, Sir John replied: "Don't. I mean don't for a whole range of reasons.
"The Prime Minister is blocked in on every side, I utterly can empathise with her frustration but I think a general election will solve nothing at this moment."
He also said he suspects that MPs may add "something relating to the customs union and alignment to the single market" to Mrs May's deal.
He noted: "If they add that to her deal, it's not perfect, it's far from perfect... I think it could go through and it might be the least bad option in the circumstances we're in other than reversing the whole thing."
On Friday, MPs in the House of Commons rejected the Withdrawal Agreement for a third time.
They voted by 344 to 286 against the deal, leaving Mrs May between now and 12 April to go back to Brussels with new proposals and seek a longer extension to the negotiation process, or see the UK leave without a deal that day.
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Meanwhile, the British Justice Secretary has said the government would have to "consider very carefully the will of parliament" if MPs voted for a softer form of Brexit tomorrow.
Speaking on the same programme, David Gauke said he did not think it would be "sustainable to ignore parliament's position" and that Mrs May would have to "seriously consider" its view.
Mr Gauke said he would prefer to leave the customs union as he felt that "better reflected how the country voted" in the Brexit referendum.
He said he did not think the British public "would thank us if we left without a deal" and said a general election would not resolve the current impasse.
It comes as the deputy leader of the British Labour Party said that a people's vote was the "only way to bring the country back together".
Tom Watson said a second referendum would be part of its manifesto if a general election were to be called.
He said the Labour party was gearing up for an election.
Meanwhile, a leading German MP has suggested that the option of a longer extension to Article 50 should be used to put pressure on the British government.
The leader of the European People's party, German MEP Manfred Weber, said there would be "no prolongation without clarification" from Britain about what they want to achieve.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme, he said "prolongation is a power tool" and it should be used to create pressure on British politicians.
Mr Weber also said he believed we were "going closer to a hard Brexit" and said that he was more and more "fed up" about what was happening in the UK.
When asked if Ireland would be required to come up with a plan to protect the single market, he said the issue was still in negotiations.
He said the most important thing is "we do this together and speak to each other".
