LONDON: British foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Tuesday he was hopeful gaps in negotiations between Britain and the European Union could be bridged ahead of an EU summit later this week.

"The scope and the prospects for a deal are there," Raab told parliament when asked to assess the likelihood of a deal being struck by the Oct. 15 summit.

"I'm hopeful that we can close the gap, but ultimately it will require the same goodwill, the same pragmatism, the same flexibility on the EU side, that the United Kingdom and this Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) have shown," Raab told parliament.