European Council President Donald Tusk confirmed today that the EU-Japan summit will take place on Thursday.

While European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had announced last week that the summit to reach a political agreement on a trade deal between Japan and the EU would take place on Thursday, the date was only confirmed in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

“Ambitious free and fair trade deal in the making,” Tusk tweeted.

The EU commissioners will discuss the latest progress on the deal at their weekly college meeting today in Strasbourg. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will arrive in Brussels on Wednesday to continue talks with European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström, a diplomatic source said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe will land in Brussels on Wednesday evening for the summit, the source added.

Japanese Agriculture Minister Yuji Yamamoto was expected by diplomats to fly to Brussels as well but has decided not to come because his counterpart, EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan, is not in town, the source also said.

It is unclear how close the deal is to being finalized. “Tough negotiations are continuing now,” Foreign Minister Kishida told reporters Tuesday, adding that there is “a strong desire” to reach a framework agreement on the trade deal.

This article has been updated with additional information.

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