FILE PHOTO: Germany's Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth listens to a journalist ask a question about Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, during his press conference with British Minister of State for Europe and the Americas Alan Duncan and Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz at the Western Balkans Summit in London, Britain, July 9, 2018. Matt Dunham/Pool via REUTERS

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s Europe Minister Michael Roth said that, while Berlin did not want a Brexit, it was in the interests of both sides that Britain and the EU have close ties after the country leaves the bloc.

“We don’t want a Brexit. Not at all,” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s a lose-lose situation for both the EU and UK. So sad. Yet given the circumstances a “soft” Brexit and close relations between EU and UK are in our common interest.”