Negotiations held here last week, between the main architects of the nuclear deal, did not appear to yield anything close to an agreement.

The officials said they were close to an agreement with Mr. Perot, though they have not officially accepted his offer.

The two sides came close to such an agreement earlier, before the talks broke down over who would control the deal.

I'm very optimistic that we are getting very close to an agreement.

The deal had been expected for the last few weeks, when word that both sides were close to an agreement first began circulating.

Major League Baseball is close to an agreement for a line of credit worth $300 million with Citibank and other lenders.

Both Senate and Assembly members thought they were close to an agreement during the night.

Despite that, he said, more in sorrow than in anger, "After getting close to an agreement, we could not conclude it."

Both the Mayor and legislative leaders said they were close to an agreement after four months of negotiations.

It wasn't until yesterday afternoon, according to baseball people familiar with events, that the lawyers began getting close to an agreement.