Mr David Trimble has said he is "completely relaxed" about any possible leadership challenge he may face at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting on Saturday.
The UUP leader insisted his comments in Washington represented a strengthening of his party's position. While the UUP had entered government with Sinn Fein in November hoping there would be decommissioning, now it would be asking for a guarantee in advance.
"What I said on Friday marked a sensible tightening of position. Remember that on November 27th we agreed to go into an executive in expectation that weapons destruction would follow. Obviously, having done that we would not do it again unless we were certain it would succeed, that it would work. By that, one of course means that the destruction of weapons would follow very soon thereafter."
However, the UUP leader's critics yesterday continued to argue that he was softening party policy. They claimed Sinn Fein's word meant nothing and guns would have to be handed over in advance of the party being readmitted to government.
Mr Trimble met his assembly party at Stormont yesterday. An aide claimed the meeting had gone "very well". The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, said Mr Trimble's remarks in Washington were not expected but they needed clarification.
He expressed concern at the hostile reaction by the UUP's "right wing".
A motion stating that the UUP will not re-enter government with Sinn Fein unless the British government promises to retain the RUC's name is to be debated at Saturday's UUC meeting.
There is widespread agreement that if successful, the resolution would greatly restrict the UUP leader's room for manoeuvre in negotiations. However, the motion's proposer, Mr David Burnside, who runs the Unionist Bureau in London, said it would actually strengthen Mr Trimble's hand.
"There is a lot of support for the motion and I expect it to go through. It will strengthen David Trimble within unionism. Unionism has given far too much recently. There are differences of opinion and there may be one or two unhappy if the motion is passed, but there will be no split and any talk of a leadership crisis is nonsense."
Mr David Ervine of the Progressive Unionist Party, the UVF's political wing, described his trip to Washington as "a waste of time and a waste of money - nothing happened."