Ulster Unionist negotiators yesterday briefed their Assembly party about the progress of the Mitchell review following the latest round of talks in London.
It is understood the party's deputy leader, Mr John Taylor, was absent. He was supporting a farmers' protest over the pigs crisis.
Senator George Mitchell has returned to the US to join his family. He is said to be planning the final stages of his review. There is considerable speculation that the talks will be held in London again when they reopen next week.
However, Northern Ireland Office sources insisted no location had been chosen and they were unable to say on which days the talks would begin. A senior SDLP negotiator, Mr Mark Durkan, described the review's meetings in London as "worthwhile".
Responding to claims from anti-agreement unionists that a deal was imminent, he said: "We're not home in a boat but equally nobody is being sold down the river. Parties are very serious about the positions they are putting forward."
The Alliance deputy leader, Mr Seamus Close, said the mood among pro-agreement parties had improved. It was still unclear if the UUP and Sinn Fein could resolve their differences on decommissioning and the executive, he added.
The PUP's chief spokesman, Mr David Ervine, said the atmosphere between the pro-agreement parties was better in London. "Business is being done. We haven't dealt with the real issue in terms of having a conclusion for you, but the atmospherics were better than they once were."