EU convenes urgent Brexit meeting amid deal talk: sources

Thomson Reuters

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Diplomats handling Brexit talks for EU member states in Brussels were summoned to an urgent meeting by EU negotiators on Monday, diplomats and officials said, amid speculation about an interim deal ahead of a summit later this week.

"There could be a deal," one senior EU diplomat said. Another however played down talk that good progress in negotiations with Britain over the weekend had reached the point of assuring London of a transition deal after Brexit.

British Brexit Secretary David Davis will meet the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels shortly after 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) as the two sides try to hammer out an interim deal before leaders meet for a summit on Thursday.

Envoys will meet before Davis meets Barnier.

Several EU officials and diplomats said intense talks over the weekend aimed, among other things, at resolving serious differences over the Irish border had made good progress.

But one senior EU source involved in discussions said talk of a deal being agreed was "hype".

Spokesmen for Barnier and the British government declined official comment.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels and Elizabeth Piper in London; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Catherine Evans)

See Also:

• Florida school plans moment of silence for bridge collapse victims

• More than 3,500 people left Syria's Eastern Ghouta on Monday: TASS

• Uber, Ola drivers strike in India for higher pay