It is "realistic" to expect agreement on a deal between Britain and the European Union on the UK's exit from the union within the next eight weeks, the EU's chief negotiator has said.
"I think that if we are realistic, we are able to reach an agreement on the first stage of this negotiation, which is the Brexit treaty, within six or eight weeks," Michel Barnier told a press conference in Bled, Slovenia.
Following the statement a spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain is focussed on securing a deal in October.
"We are focused on securing a deal in October and that continues to be what we are working towards," he said, when asked about Mr Barnier's comments.
"You have seen over the summer I think an intensification in the talks, that is obviously something which we called for, and you have seen progress continuing to be made in relation to that withdrawal agreement."
Meanwhile, EU leaders are likely to hold a special summit in mid-November when they hope to be able to sign off on a possible deal, diplomats and officials have said.
With the border issue still the main stumbling block, EU ministers meeting in Brussels next Tuesday will discuss holding the extraordinary summit because they no longer expect to clinch a deal at a regular gathering scheduled for 18 and 19 October.
Some diplomats said 13 November was one date under consideration for the extraordinary summit, though others said it was still a moving target.
Some EU officials say a deal with Britain in December, or even as late as January, could leave just about enough time for the British and the European parliaments to ratify the agreement.
The least likely scenario, but one that some EU diplomats have also considered, is that Britain would ask to prolong the talks beyond the current exit date of 29 March 2019.
Such an extension would be domestically very complicated for Mrs May, who is under heavy pressure from sections of her Conservative Party to honour that leaving date.
The other 27 EU member states would also have to agree unanimously to any extension of the negotiations.
EU sources say that would only be possible if the negotiators were really very close to sealing a deal and ran out of time for purely technical reasons, rather than because of political wrangling.
In any case, they say an extension would only be possible for a few weeks as the current EU parliament - which must sign off on any Brexit deal - holds its last plenary session on 15-18 April 2019.
The EU will hold elections in May to pick a new assembly and the consensus in Brussels is that Britain must be out by then.
