Paris climate accord: US says it will withdraw from the agreement unless it can re-enter on more favorable terms

The US has insisted it will withdraw from the Paris climate accord unless it can re-enter on more favorable terms, on contrary to the reports that it may be softening its stance.

The statement came after a summit in Montreal where environment ministers from some 30 countries gathered seeking headway on the Paris climate accord.

At the summit, which was attended by a US observer, the US "stated that they will not renegotiate the Paris Accord, but they (will) try to review the terms on which they could be engaged under this agreement", the European Union's top climate official Miguel Arias Canete said.

The US observer was not immediately available for comment and the White House insisted the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord without more favorable terms.

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"There has been no change in the United States' position on the Paris agreement", White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in an email.

"As the president has made abundantly clear, the United States is withdrawing unless we can re-enter on terms that are more favorable to our country", she said.

President Donald Trump said in June he wanted a new "fair" deal for the US.

Paris agreement the aim of limiting the rise in average global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, nearly 200 countries agreed in Paris in December 2015 to curb carbon dioxide emissions.

(With inputs from PTI)