BRUSSELS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Intense Brexit negotiations with Britain in recent days have yielded only moderate progress towards a trade deal and differences remain on key issues, the European Union's negotiator told EU envoys on Wednesday, a senior diplomat said.

The diplomat said the negotiator, Michel Barnier, gave no timeline for an agreement or even any certainty that a deal would be clinched.

A senior official said the envoys were told there had been "mild progress" in the negotiations, and one issue that still divided the two sides were arrangements for fisheries after the end of Britain's status quo transition period on Jan. 1.

"There is no discussion of mood and predictions on Barnier's side, just a clear drive to get a deal," the official said. "It is pure pragmatism." (Reporting by John Chalmers and Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)