The impasse over the future of WikiLeaks founder Assange is "coming to an end."

LONDON (Reuters) - The diplomatic standoff over Julian Assange's six-year stay at the Ecuadorian embassy in London is nearing its end, a source close to the WikiLeaks founder said on Monday, after media reports indicated the South American country would rescind his political asylum.

Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012, when he received asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden to be questioned about allegations of sexual crimes, which he has always denied.

Since then, those allegations have been withdrawn, but Assange would be arrested by British police if he left the embassy for violating bail conditions.

Assange believes that this arrest would lead to his extradition to the United States for publishing a series of American diplomatic and military secrets on the WikiLeaks website.

Speculation about the Australian's future has grown this month after the Sunday Times newspaper reported that senior officials from Ecuador and the United Kingdom are in talks about how to remove him from the embassy after his right to asylum was revoked.

"The situation is very serious. Things are coming to an end," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. He said the latest information from inside the embassy is that "things are not looking good."

However, sources in the Ecuadorian and UK governments downplayed suggestions that there is likely to be any imminent move to break the deadlock.

Ecuador's president, Lenín Moreno, who has previously described Assange's situation as "untenable" and "a thorn in his side," is in London to participate in a summit this week, where, newspapers have suggested, a deal could be finalized.

However, the Ecuadorian government said that neither Moreno nor his delegation will address the Assange issue during their visit.

"The Ecuadorian state will only discuss and promote understandings regarding Mr. Assange's asylum, within the framework of international law, with the individual's lawyers and the British government," the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.