UPDATE 1-EU's Tusk says Brexit delay would be "rational"

European Council President Donald Tusk said on Monday that delaying Brexit beyond the scheduled exit date of March 29 would be a "rational solution" as there was no majority in the British parliament to approve a divorce deal.

"I believe that in the situation we are in, an extension would be a rational decision, but Prime Minister May still believes she will be able to avoid this scenario," Tusk told a news conference in Egypt a day after seeing the British leader. Tusk said May and he discussed "legal and political context of a potential extension" of Britain's two-year limit on Brexit negotiations that expires on March 29.

"For me, it's absolutely clear that there is no majority in the House of Commons to approve a deal. We will face an alternative, chaotic Brexit, or an extension," Tusk said. "The less time there is until the 29th of March, the greater the likelihood of an extension. And this is an objective fact, not our plan or our objective, but an objective fact."

(Reporting by Nadine Awadalla, Alastair Macdonald, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; editing by John Stonestreet)