A provisional IRA response is now awaited to yesterday's pre-Christmas report by the international decommissioning body which said a face-to-face meeting with an IRA representative was crucial.
The report urged the Provisional IRA leadership to begin new talks with it as soon as possible in an attempt to make progress on the weapons issue.
The commission's chairman, Gen John de Chastelain, said it remained crucial that republicans renewed contact. Even though two international inspectors have twice examined arms dumps, the Provisional IRA has had no face-to-face discussions with the general since June.
The Government yesterday welcomed the view of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning that "sufficient time still exists for a complete decommissioning of paramilitary arms by June 2001, and appropriate methods can be set up for this purpose".
The Ulster Unionists welcomed the report. But the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, last night said he could not guarantee that the Provisional IRA would re-engage with the commission in the new year. He pointed to the lack of political progress on a range of issues and questioned whether the British government was "on election mode" and effectively putting the peace process "on the back burner".
In his report to the British and Irish governments yesterday, Gen de Chastelain said: "It is crucial that we have substantive engagement with the IRA representative as soon as possible."
Talks between the two sides stopped after Provisional IRA claims that the British government was refusing to fully implement the Patten Report on policing and to remove military installations in south Armagh.
British and Irish officials will meet after Christmas in an attempt to end the deadlock. Mr Adams refused to be drawn on Gen de Chastelain's call for reengagement with the commission.
"That's between him and the IRA. The IRA has made its position clear in terms of public statements," he said. The commission's report reaffirmed there had been no real progress on decommissioning but was confident the target date set by the governments for full implementation of the Belfast Agreement was attainable.
"We believe that sufficient time still exists for the complete decommissioning of paramilitary arms by June 2001, and that appropriate methods can be set up for that purpose," it said.