The North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, has called on the Provisional IRA to consider issuing a decommissioning timetable and a statement that would encourage trust in the unionist community.
Mr Mallon said there had to be compromise from both republicans and unionists on decommissioning. He believed that a timetable from the Provisionals could "help resolve the matter".
He also said they should "at least start to look at a form of words that would help increase trust in the unionist community and unionist political parties".
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster, Mr Mallon urged unionists to move from their "absolutist position" on disarmament. He called for an end to "brinkmanship" on the decommissioning issue.
"There is a third way. That is the way which steps away from absolutism and that is the way in which politics works. There is always room, there is always space to move," he said.
"I say to unionists, look at your absolutist position and move round that into a position where decommissioning can be effected rather than talked about." He said he remained optimistic that a solution to the impasse could be found.
"Every single political party in this Assembly wants this process to work. Both governments are committed. People on the ground want this to work - of that I don't have any doubt at all."
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has accused Mr David Trimble of exceeding his powers by claiming that the party will be excluded from the new executive if the Provisional IRA does not decommission. Sinn Fein chairman Mr Mitchel McLaughlin said the First Minister could not renegotiate the Belfast Agreement and should not be making "unilateral demands" for an arms handover.
He was responding to Mr Trimble's interview in yesterday's Irish Times when the First Minister warned republicans that they risked missing "the settlement train" if there was no decommissioning.
Mr McLaughlin said Mr Trimble would be challenging democracy if he attempted to bar the party from office. Referring to the "settlement train" analysis, he said: "Who provides the tickets? The electorate provides the tickets, not David Trimble. He is not the ticket-master.
"He got a mandate which entitled him to be here. If he gets to the point of recognising that everyone else here has a mandate also, then I think we have a chance."
The Alliance leader, Mr Seamus Close, has accused both Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionists of engaging in megaphone diplomacy.
He said it was vital that there was political progress as the target date of March 10th for the transfer of powers to the devolved administration at Stormont approached. There was a need for less confrontation, he added.
"The language used is unlikely to bring about a diplomatic solution to the present impasse. It is more likely to entrench hardline positions and make a solution more difficult.
"As we now enter the month of March, I again stress the need for the pro-agreement parties to stop using macho language across the airwaves but rather to use diplomatic language around the table."