The head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning held talks with senior members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).
Three senior members of the terrorist group attended the meeting with Gen John de Chastelain in Belfast yesterday.
The meeting comes five weeks after the Independent Monitoring Committee said the organisation remained an "active threat to the rule of law in Ireland".
The contact is being seen as part of a developing push for the UDA to dump its guns after total IRA weapons destruction was announced last month.
Gen de Chastelain was accompanied by his two fellow commissioners, Andrew Sens and Tauno Nieminen, for the meeting at an undisclosed location in the city.
Loyalist sources emphasised the significance of leading paramilitary figures becoming involved.
The IRA ending its armed campaign and dumping its arsenal also contributed to their decision to meet the General's team.
"There's a different emphasis now," one loyalist said. "But there's also a lot more work to be done before we see anything more."