Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno announced this week in a radio interview that "the road is clear for Mr. Assange to take the decision to leave," referring to written assurances the UK had given him that Assange would not be extradited to face the death penalty in the United States. 

"The way has been cleared for Mr Assange to take the decision to leave in near-liberty," said Moreno, without elaborating on what that meant. 

Mr Moreno earlier this year announced that he was severing Mr Assange's telephone and internet links, and in October said he was banning him from making "political statement" that jeopardised Ecuador's relations with other countries. Mr Assange then sued for a breach of his human rights.

From December, he was also due to pay for his own costs of food, medical care and laundry, in yet another sign of the growing impatience of the Ecuadorean government.

But Mr Assange's lawyer, Barry Pollack, told The Telegraph that the deal was not acceptable.

The legal team have long argued that they will not accept any agreement which risks his being extradited to the United States. -The Telegraph

Meanwhile, despite Trump proclaiming "I love WikiLeaks" several times during the 2016 election - several US officials have called for Assange's extradition to face trial following the "Vault 7" leaks in March 2017 which contained information regarding CIA hacking tools.