BERLIN: The European Union wants a Brexit trade deal with the United Kingdom and will not let Ireland down, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

"We want an agreement: from the Irish point of view in particular it is extremely important," Merkel said during a debate on the German presidency of the European Union at EU's the Committee of the Regions.

"We won't let Ireland down but will continue to stick together in these exit negotiations," she added.

"But we have to bear in mind the realities because an agreement has to be in the interests of both sides, in the British interest and in the interest of the EU's 27 member states."