Responding swiftly to the British parliament's crushing rejection of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, the remaining EU27 countries urged the U.K. government to make clear its next steps as soon as possible.

“We regret the outcome of the vote, and urge the U.K. government to clarify its intentions with respect to its next steps as soon as possible," a spokesman for European Council President Donald Tusk said after consultations Tuesday evening with the 27 heads of state and government.

Tusk himself gave a heavy hint in a tweet that the size of the defeat means Brexit may not come about: "If a deal is impossible, and no one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?"

If a deal is impossible, and no one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is? — Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) January 15, 2019

"The EU27 will remain united and responsible as we have been throughout the entire process and will seek to reduce the damage caused by Brexit," the spokesman, Preben Aamann, said.

"We will continue our preparations for all outcomes, including a no-deal scenario. The risk of a disorderly exit has increased with this vote and, while we do not want this to happen, we will be prepared for it.

"We will continue the EU's process of ratification of the agreement reached with the U.K. government," Aamann added. "This agreement is and remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.”

Tusk returned to Brussels to await the outcome of the U.K. parliament vote on Tuesday from his hometown of Gdańsk, Poland where he had joined mourners of the assassinated mayor, Paweł Adamowicz, who was fatally stabbed at a charity event on Sunday.

“I urge the United Kingdom to clarify its intentions as soon as possible. Time is almost up" — Jean Claude Juncker, European Commission president

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker echoed Tusk's sentiments in his own statement demanding clarity from London.

“I take note with regret of the outcome of the vote in the House of Commons this evening,” Juncker said. “On the EU side, the process of ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement continues.”

Juncker reiterated his belief that the deal is solid and the only way forward. “The Withdrawal Agreement is a fair compromise and the best possible deal. It reduces the damage caused by Brexit for citizens and businesses across Europe,” he said.

“It is the only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.” He added, “I urge the United Kingdom to clarify its intentions as soon as possible. Time is almost up.”

While the outcome of the result had been expected for weeks, there was little EU officials could do to prepare in advance other than brace themselves for all manner of unpredictable political developments in London, as was reflected by the immediate reactions in Brussels and Strasbourg.

In the run-up to Tuesday’s vote, senior officials said the bloc has no choice but to take a wait-and-see approach given the possibility — now confirmed — that Theresa May’s government would face a vote of confidence and a potential collapse. That confidence vote will take place on Wednesday.

But even amid the uncertainty, EU leaders resisted pressuring May or her government. Instead, at her request they participated in an exchange of letters aimed at reassuring MPs about the purpose of the controversial “backstop” provision on the Northern Ireland border. And EU leaders, among them Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, expressed openness to extending the March 29 deadline for the U.K.’s withdrawal.

The relatively soft line, even in the face of certain defeat, reflects the continuing conviction in Brussels that any effort by the EU to strong-arm the U.K. or to halt the Brexit process would only backfire.

Instead, EU officials have said any substantive shift — either a national election following May’s ouster or resignation, or a second referendum — would have to emerge as a result of shifting political dynamics in Britain. Perhaps the most difficult result for Brussels would be for the Brexit deal to suffer such a devastating defeat but for May’s government to survive — an outcome that would likely force the EU back to the bargaining table despite the repeated insistence of leaders that the deal is not up for renegotiation.

Before the vote, EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told MEPs that if their counterparts in Westminster reject the deal, the EU27 should remain “calm and united,” according to two European Parliament officials.

Addressing a private meeting of the center-right European People’s Party at the European Parliament, Barnier said the EU27 must be open to changing their position if the U.K. government changes its red lines as a result of the deal being rejected.

“We need to continue to build on the unity of the 27,” said Barnier, according to one of the officials. “We will wait and see how May interprets this vote. Calmly and without panic we will need to start preparing all different options. Even for a no deal.”

In response to the result, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt tweeted: "The UK Parliament has said what it doesn't want. Now is the time to find out what UK parliamentarians want. In the meantime, the rights of citizens must be safeguarded."

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz took to Twitter to say: "I regret the outcome of the Brexit vote. The ball is now in the court of the British House of Commons in London. In any case there will be no renegotiation of the withdrawal agreement."

In another tweet, Kurz wrote: "Our goal still remains to avoid a hard Brexit and also in the future to continue to work with the U.K. as closely as possible. I have also spoken with Michel Barnier about this this evening."

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking to a group of about 600 mayors in Normandy on Tuesday, said that a no-deal Brexit is “scary for everybody. The first losers in this would be the British.” He continued: “Second option, they tell us — in my view, that’s what they’ll do, I know them a bit — ‘we’ll try to improve what we can get from the Europeans and we’ll get back for a vote. In that case, we’ll look into it, maybe we’ll make improvements on one or two things, but I don’t really think so because we’ve reached the maximum of what we could do with the deal and we won’t, just to solve Britain’s domestic political issues, stop defending European interests.”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Twitter: "I regret, yet respect the result of the vote in #HouseofCommons on current #Brexit deal. NL & EU are still behind the agreement, but will keep preparing for all scenarios. Despite this setback, it does not mean we are in a no-deal situation. The next step is up to the UK."

Olaf Scholz, the German finance minister, said: "This is a bitter day for Europe. We are well prepared — but a hard Brexit would be the least attractive choice, for the EU and GB."

Reacting from Strasbourg, Udo Bullmann, the leader of the Socialist group in the European Parliament and a member of the Brexit Steering Group, said: "If nothing works in parliament, there is only one solution — ask the people again."