U.K. and European Union negotiators have reached an outline deal on the divorce bill that Britain will pay when it leaves the bloc, the Telegraph reported, clearing a hurdle in talks and leaving the thorny issue of the Irish border as the last major obstacle.

While European national governments and their envoys in Brussels, speaking anonymously, told Bloomberg an agreement on the bill hasn't yet been sealed, they said discussions are going in the right direction. EU leaders, rather than negotiators, have the final say on whether the offer on the divorce bill is high enough to unblock talks.

The U.K. government said "intensive talks" were ongoing to "build on recent momentum."