EU wants Brexit deal but must prepared if no agreement - Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wearing a face mask leaves after a session at the upper house of the German parliament Bundesrat, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Berlin

BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union wants a Brexit trade deal with the United Kingdom but must be prepared should an agreement not be reached, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

"An agreement is in the interests of all," Merkel said during a debate on the German presidency of the European Union at EU's the Committee of the Regions.

"The EU is united in its desire to still achieve this in such a short space of time. But we must also be prepared in the event that no agreement is reached," she added.

(Reporting by Paul Carrel, editing by Thomas Escritt)