Theresa May has said the language used by European Council President Donald Tusk yesterday was "not helpful and caused widespread dismay".
Mrs May was speaking after a series of meetings in Brussels today, as she continues to seek concessions to get her Brexit deal through the House of Commons.
During a joint press conference with Leo Varadkar yesterday, Mr Tusk declared he has been "wondering what the special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan of how to carry it out safely."
A number of pro-Brexit politicians expressed outrage over the remark, including members of Mrs May's own Conservative party and the DUP.
Evidently the pressure is building in Brussels. A deliberately provocative & disrespectful statement about the 17.4m of us who voted to leave. This is a time for solutions & genuine diplomacy not insults. https://t.co/km40QOkoA0
— Arlene Foster (@DUPleader) February 6, 2019
Mrs May was asked about the comment following her meetings with EU leaders today.
She told reporters: "I've raised with President Tusk the language that he used yesterday, which was not helpful and caused widespread dismay in the United Kingdom.
"The point I made to him is that we should both be working to ensure we can deliver a close relationship between the UK and the EU in the future - that is what he should be focusing on."
'Robust but constructive' talks
In a statement earlier, Mrs May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said they'd had 'robust but constructive' talks about Brexit.
Mr Juncker again warned the British leader that the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement - including the Irish backstop - is not open for re-negotiation.
Mrs May said they'd both agreed that talks will start "to find a way through this, to get this over the line, and to deliver on the concerns that Parliament has".
She insisted she'll be "negotiating hard" in the coming days, although admitted it wouldn't be easy.
EU officials have continued to insist that they won't back down on the backstop issue, with European Parliament Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt today saying "we'll never abandon Ireland".
Open discussion w/ @theresa_may. Backstop non negotiable. We'll never abandon Ireland. I welcome @jeremycorbyn letter making a cross-party approach for the first time possible. From the hell we're in today, there is at last hope of a heavenly solution even if it won't be Paradise pic.twitter.com/2yEzINJQdb
— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) February 7, 2019
Mrs May is due to meet with Leo Varadkar in Dublin tomorrow amid the continuing Brexit impasse.
