President of the EU Council Donald Tusk is due to hold a press conference shortly.

Theresa May will make a statement afterwards.

Sir Jeffrey said the government needed to translate "verbal commitments" on the matter of the backstop into "law".

"Our priority is preserving the union and getting an outcome that is economically good for Northern Ireland," he added in his interview with BBC Radio Ulster.

"We do not want a no-deal outcome, that is not the preferred outcome of the DUP.

"It is not what the DUP is working towards."

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party and other MPs still needed "legal assurances" on the border backstop if they are to support Mrs May's deal.

He said he and colleagues would "work day and night" to get those assurances.

"If those issues are not adequately addressed then I don't think this agreement is going to go through," he told BBC Radio Ulster.

When asked what the party specifically required, Mr Donaldson declined to be drawn, but he did highlight paragraph 50 of the EU/UK joint report on Brexit from December 2017 that referenced a strong role for Stormont in the operation of the backstop.

The paragraph was not subsequently included in the withdrawal agreement.

Chris Morris
BBC Reality Check

There have been different views about how long “short” should be – and a strict interpretation of the law rules out an extension until the end of June, if the UK doesn’t take part in European elections in May.

That’s why, in a draft of their conclusions, the 27 EU leaders offer a possible extension until 22 May - the day before voting in the elections begins.

Another factor is that no-one wants the current sense of uncertainty to drag on, with little prospect of resolution.

So for now, the focus is likely to remain on the condition that an extension can be offered only if a third meaningful vote on the Brexit deal gets through the House of Commons next week.

But EU leaders can read the runes as well as anyone, and they know that the numbers in the Commons don’t look good for the government.

So the big question is - what does their Plan B look like?

A longer extension – an idea rejected by Theresa May – remains a possibility but the legal and political calculations that surround it are complex and difficult to predict with any certainty.

BBC News Channel

Journalist Stefanie Bolzen says the EU 27 are "trying to keep the pressure up".

"It is very interesting to compare Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron - they are a bit good guy/bad guy."

She quoted a member of the German delegation who said Germany did not want to start a new relationship with the UK "with a crash".

However, when asked what happens if MPs reject Theresa May's deal for a third time, she said there had been "a lot of rumours that Europeans are quite prepared for a no deal."

BBC News Channel

Speaking to the BBC, Carolyn Fairbairn of the CBI says: "Business has been supportive of the deal and they still see merit in it.

"However, if it fails there needs to be an opportunity for a compromise to be found," she says.

Earlier today, the CBI wrote a joint letter to Mrs May urging her to "change course" in her approach to Brexit, saying the UK is facing a "national emergency".

Image source, AFP

MP Anna Soubry says she is not able to go home this weekend because of the seriousness of the death threats she is facing.

Ms Soubry, who quit the Conservative Party to join the Independent Group last month, said she was facing "very, very serious death threats, especially when people know your home address".

She told reporters: "I'm not able to go home this weekend, I am not safe.

"When a senior police officer tells your partner that if it was his wife in the situation that I am in he would say 'I am frightened for her safety', I think that tells you everything."

BBC News Channel

Mairead McGuinness, vice-president of the European Parliament, says EU leaders want to see "a meaningful exit".

"We are a bit concerned about a meaningless exit - we need to know that the prime minister's plan will work next week.

"There is a sense, a fatigue, around Brexit but it is far too serious to allow fatigue to take over.

"There is a great willingness to help the UK get over this particular impasse.

"It is quite tragic that we are still in this awful quandary."

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

The Ministry of Defence has set up a new operations room to deal with a potential no-deal Brexit under the banner "Operation Redfold".

The MoD insists it is just part of the wider cross-government preparations for a no-deal Brexit that have already been announced.

The new operations room is being run from the bunker in the bowels of the MoD main building.

An MoD spokesperson said: "We are always willing to support wider government planning for any scenario, and we have committed to holding 3,500 troops at readiness to aid contingency plans."

Katya Adler
Europe Editor

The draft summit conclusions suggest EU leaders are responding to Theresa May's request for a short extension.

They don't accept it can be until 30th June. They say it can only be until 22nd May.

This is not unexpected. It is because Theresa May says the UK will not be taking part in the European elections.

So in order to separate Brexit from those elections, the short extension ends on 22nd May.

The draft conclusions are conditional on Parliament approving the prime minister's deal.

EU Leaders are committed to agreeing, before 29 March 2019, to a Brexit extension until 22 May 2019 provided the withdrawal agreement is approved by the House of Commons.

EU leaders are currently discussing the draft conclusions.

BBC Europe editor Katya Adler says draft conclusions can be changed before final agreement is reached.

4. The European Council reiterates that there can be no reopening of the Withdrawal Agreement that was agreed between the Union and the United Kingdom in November 2018. Any unilateral commitment, statement or other act should be compatible with the letter and the spirit of the Withdrawal Agreement.

5. The European Council calls for work to be continued on preparedness and contingency at all levels for the consequences of the United Kingdom's withdrawal, taking into account all possible outcomes.

6. The European Council will remain seized of the matter.

In the published draft conclusions of their meeting, the EU 27 say:

1. The European Council takes note of the letter of Prime Minister May of 20 March 2019.

2. In response, the European Council approves the Instrument relating to the Withdrawal Agreement and the Joint Statement supplementing the Political Declaration agreed beteween the European Commission and the government of the United Kingdom in Strasbourg on 11 March 2019.

3. The European Council commits to agreeing, before 29 March 2019, to an extension until 22 May 2019, provided the Withdrawal Agreement is approved by the House of Commons next. Given that the United Kingdom does not intend to hold elections to the European Parliament, no extension is possible beyond that date.