France on Brexit: 'Time for this situation to end'

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Saturday that it was time for the Brexit crisis to end, saying that it couldn't continue to dominate EU discussions.

"It's time that this situation ended," he told reporters on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in Dinard, northern France.

"We can't live constantly with Brexit. At some point, there needs to be a departure.

"The British authorities and the British parliament need to understand that the European Union is not going to be able to constantly exhaust itself with the ups and downs of domestic British politics. The British need to tell us very quickly how they are going to get out of this crisis," he added.

France has sought to ramp up pressure on British Prime Minister Theresa May ahead of an emergency summit meeting of European leaders in Brussels from Wednesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said her request for an extension of the deadline for Brexit would not automatically be accepted, meaning Britain could crash out of the bloc without a deal.