FILE PHOTO: Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier delivers a statement after the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany June 6, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier expressed the hope that British legislators would vote decisively against a no-deal Brexit in a session of the London parliament later on Wednesday.

“After divisive debates & votes, today can become a turning point,” Altmaier, a close confidante of Chancellor Angela Merkel, wrote on Twitter after the British parliament for a second time rejected an agreement for an orderly withdrawal.

“Rejecting No-deal-Brexit by a large cross-party majority will unite millions in the UK & in Europe,” he added in a tweet addressed to the British. “Whatever you finally decide. Good luck dear friends!”