Germany will continue to push to seal a new partnership agreement with Britain by the end of the year, but the European Union should also prepare for an abrupt split, - stated Angela Merkel at the European Parliament.

"We have agreed with the UK to accelerate the pace of the talks. I will continue to push for a good solution, but we should also prepare for a possibility of a no-deal scenario", - stressed the German Chancellor.

It should be noted that Germany took over the Presidency of the Council of the EU from Croatia on Wednesday.

For the record, in June, Angela Merkel stated that the negotiations with the UK should be completed by autumn. According to her, the negotiations should be accelerated and the agreement should be ratified by both sides.