Leading countries in the troubled Doha global trade negotiations remained firmly in entrenched positions yesterday ahead of a weekend of high-pressure talks, although the head of the World Trade Organisation floated the outline of a possible compromise.

Kamal Nath, India's trade minister, said the US had isolated itself in the talks with its insistence on deep cuts in agricultural tariffs to open export markets for its farmers. Speaking to the FT yesterday, Mr Nath said he would not jeopardise the livelihoods of India's 650m farmers. "For India, farming is not commerce but subsistence," he said. "The US is grappling with the question: why is nobody with us?"