The EU and UK have agreed that scoping work to resolve the dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol should continue in a constructive spirit, the two sides said in a joint statement.
"They agreed that this scoping work for potential solutions should continue in a constructive and collaborative spirit, taking careful account of each other's legitimate interests," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said following a video call.
The video call follows last week’s announcement that both sides had reached agreement on granting the EU access to UK trade data on goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland.
EU and UK officials have been working intensely over the weekend on a draft statement or declaration on the protocol.
Diplomats have stressed that there is still an enormous amount of technical work to be done before an overall agreement is reached.
Brussels, London and Dublin are all said to be keen to forge an agreement which can lead to the restoration of the Stormont executive.
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DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said he does not believe the UK and the EU are close to a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Speaking shortly before the joint EU-UK statement was released, he said that based on his meeting with Mr Cleverly in Belfast last week it was clear "that there are still substantial gaps between the two sides."
He added: "There's still a lot of ground to be covered. I don't think we're close to a deal at this stage."
The DUP leader also played down talk of a deadline for a deal before the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April.
"I was encouraged by what James Cleverly said last week," he added.
"He said two things. First of all, there isn't a deadline here. They are not working to a timetable, they want to get the right deal.
"And secondly, he said that it has to be a deal that works for everyone in Northern Ireland, including unionists.
"So I think the government recognises that if the objective here is to restore political stability, is to get an outcome that replaces the protocol with arrangements that Unionists as well as nationalists can support, then rushing at this and getting the wrong deal isn't what we need to restore political stability in Northern Ireland."
Mr Donaldson also stressed that his party's positon has not changed and that it will only agree to go back into power-sharing at Stormont if the protocol dispute is resolved to its satisfaction.
"We need to get an agreement that restores Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom and its internal market," he said.
"We need to see is what exactly are those new arrangements? For example, on the fundamental question, does our ability to trade within the United Kingdom - is that governed by UK law by UK standards - at the moment it is governed by EU law and EU standards, and that is unacceptable.
"How do we avoid future divergence between UK standards and EU standards, which would again inhibit our ability to trade within the United Kingdom's internal market?
"So this is about restoring our place in the United Kingdom. These measures are about how you implement a future agreement, we need to see the future agreement, so we're not agreeing to anything or signing up to anything until we see, does an agreement respect and protect Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom?"
An EU official said James Cleverly and Maroš Šefčovič will meet again in the coming days to review progress, following today's video conference.
Despite the brevity of the joint statement following today’s meeting, one EU source said that the talks were still on a positive track and that agreement on a number of issues was "close".
The source said there was a more optimistic mood in Brussels about an agreed outcome than was reflected in the joint statement.
Additional reporting Tony Connelly, Vincent Kearney
