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The president of the European Council has given an upbeat assessment of the prospects for a deal on the Irish border.

Donald Tusk was speaking ahead of an EU summit in Brussels.

He said: "I am absolutely sure that we will finally find a proper solution to avoid this risk of hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland."

This week the UK and EU reached broad agreement on a withdrawal deal.

However, most issues relating to the Irish border were not agreed.

The main sticking point is a so-called backstop for the border.

It would mean that in the absence of any other solution, Northern Ireland, or the UK as a whole, aligning with EU rules required to support North-South cooperation and an all-island economy.

The UK has accepted the need for a backstop to be written into the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

But it has not agreed what EU rules it should cover.

The backstop was first agreed to in December, and last month the EU published a draft legal text which would essentially mean Northern Ireland staying in the customs union and the single market for goods.

It was rejected by the UK, with Prime Minister Theresa May saying "no United Kingdom prime minister could ever agree to it".

On Wednesday, Mr Tusk said: "Our latest proposal when it comes to new guidelines is also acceptable for Dublin and for London.

"We still need more time to clarify - in fact this is the British obligation - to clarify technical, logistic and legal details.

"Today I can say that our interpretation of so-called December agreement is almost identical compared to the British position."