The European Union has invited British Prime Minister Theresa May for a key meeting on the eve of its summit on October 18 to discuss Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc.

The office of Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, said Wednesday that May would be welcomed to address the other 27 leaders of the EU on the issue of Brexit in Brussels on October 17.

A statement from Tusk’s office said the EU leaders had been expected to discuss Brexit on the day of the summit on Thursday but the schedules was moved up so the bloc could address other issues on the day of the summit.

It said the new schedule could give the EU president the opportunity to "review the state of negotiations" between the bloc and Britain during the working dinner.

There was no comment from May’s office and whether she would accept the new EU invitation.

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Tusk said during an informal EU summit in Salzburg, Austria, last month, that Britain had still a lot to do to persuade the bloc about its Brexit plan. He said that negotiations will continue and if there was progress, Brussels could call an extraordinary summit in November to allow EU leaders discuss terms of a final Brexit deal.

Some EU members like France had opposed the idea that negotiations could be extended to November, saying that EU and Britain must decide about Brexit before the October summit.

Britain and the EU are still locked on some key issues in Brexit talks, including the future situation of the border on the island of Ireland. If the two sides fail to reach a deal in the upcoming weeks, Britain will crash out of the EU on March 29, 2019, leaving many issues unregulated.