Paolo Gentiloni issued the stark warning as he described Brexit as a “wake up call” to the Brussels club. 

He warned Britain leaving the EU without a deal, and forced to leave negotiations to the rules of the World Trade Organisation, would be “negative and dangerous”. 

Mr Gentiloni said: “The no deal option or not finding an agreement, leaving everything to the rules of the World Trade Organisation, would be a negative and dangerous fallback.

“It is in the interest of Europe and of our country to reach an agreement and it will be an agreement that will have two distinct phases.

“A transition phase of a couple of years until the fateful date of March 29, 2019 in which the separation of the United Kingdom from the EU will take place. Two years of transition and then a new regime of relations between the EU and the United Kingdom.” 

Keen to remain close allies of Britain, Mr Gentiloni said: “There are evident difficulties on the part of the United Kingdom that we must treat with respect because it is a friend and ally of Italy".

But he said Brexit had not fuelled anti-EU rhetoric across the continent, saying: “Brexit was basically a wake-up call for the EU, and what happened after it certainly did not spread divorce attitudes in the EU. 

“I do not think that there has been a great dissemination of those ideas after Brexit.”

Last week, the European Commission agreed that "sufficient progress" had been made on divorce issues to move Brexit negotiations on to the second phase after overnight talks by Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker. 

But Mrs May suffered a setback last night, ahead of this afternoon’s EU Council, when the Government was defeated in a Commons vote over the Brexit bill. 

Additional reporting by Maria Ortega