An EU post-Brexit agreement with the UK could serve as a model for framework for exchanges with other countries eager to be as close as possible to the bloc, but without joining it, such as Ukraine and Turkey, Germany’s foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said.

In an interview with the Funke newspaper group published on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said such a deal could offer a solution to the puzzle of how the EU27 can manage its ties with two significant eastern neighbours.