AKIPRESS.COM - European Council President Donald Tusk has said that the 27 European Union countries meeting in Brussels to discuss Brexit must remain united, BBC News reported.
Mr Tusk, who will chair the special summit, said he had strong support from all the EU institutions as well as the 27 remaining states.
The UK is not taking part in the talks.
The EU leaders are meeting to finalise guidelines ahead of discussions with the UK on both the "divorce deal" and its future relationship with the EU.
The EU will insist that progress must be made in talks on separating the UK from the EU before any discussions can begin about future trade relations.
Official talks between London and the EU will not begin until after the UK general election on 8 June.
Arriving for the talks on Saturday morning, Mr Tusk told reporters: "We need to remain united as EU-27. It is only then that we will be able to conclude the negotiations, which means that our unity is also in the UK's interest."
In an earlier letter to leaders of the EU-27, he wrote that progress on "people, money and Ireland" must come before negotiations on the EU's future relationship with the UK.
The UK government has said it does not want to delay talks on future trade relations.
The summit brings together the heads of state or government of the EU-27 countries to discuss the draft guidelines for Brexit negotiations issued on 31 March.