TOKYO (AP) — Japan's foreign minister is expected to head to Brussels this week to seek a breakthrough in talks on a free trade agreement with the European Union.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said over the weekend that he was hopeful the two sides would resolve remaining differences, mainly over trade in cheese and autos, before Friday's summit of the Group of 20 industrial nations.

Such a deal will require finessing Japan's protections for its dairy farmers, whose market is protected by tariffs of up to 40 percent on processed cheese.

Talks on the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement ended late Saturday with officials saying they believed they could resolve remaining differences and reach a political deal by the time Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and EU leaders are due to meet on Thursday.