The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader, Mr David Trimble, has stated it is still possible with a "more flexible approach" to make the current peace process work.
He also said the UUP's continuation in the process had prevented Sinn Fein winning a propaganda battle over unionists.
Mr Trimble indicated yesterday that he could engage with some form of bilateral or multilateral process that did not necessitate direct contact with Sinn Fein, although he did not rule out engagement with Sinn Fein at some stage.
He said he was expecting some "positive developments" from Sinn Fein in relation to its commitment to advancing politics through peaceful means.
In an article in yesterday's Belfast-based News Letter, he said the voting down of the British-Irish decommissioning paper last Wednesday was not a major setback for the talks, and added that substantive talks could yet begin in September although not necessarily on September 15th.
Mr Trimble added: "When we talk about going into three strands, bear in mind that this structure can be quite flexible as to how it is designed, and that is one issue the British government is now looking at - how to adjust the structure in such a way as to make it comfortable for people who are reluctant to get fully involved." Asked if he would be in talks in September, he replied: "That goes back to what I said about the need for flexibility in structures, because it would be possible for the talks to proceed through a mixture of bilaterals and trilaterals and so on.
"The other factor is that there is a long way from now to September and we'll see how things develop, particularly on the Sinn Fein front. It is clear that Sinn Fein is under pressure because people in the ranks are realising that they are coming into a process which is only going to lead to what they would see as a partitionist solution.
"Everyone is talking about a settlement. Not an interim arrangement, but a settlement, and a settlement on a partitionist basis which they will have to accept. And they will have to accept that when their leaders sign off on this they are signing off on the history of the whole republican movement.
"There are people in the republican movement who do realise the significance of all this. Let's just wait and see. There is a lot that could happen between now and then." Mr Trimble said he was not saying he would not at some stage sit down with Sinn Fein. "It depends on Sinn Fein and the principles of the Downing Street Declaration. Is there a commitment to peaceful means and the democratic process? "That is what this process is actually about and what the six Mitchell Principles (on non-violence and democracy), are about. Many people say the Shinners will sign up to these and will not mean it - that they will be totally insincere. And I've a strong suspicion that is the way things will go.
"But I think there are other parties to this process, not just ourselves, who will insist on genuine commitments." Mr Trimble said he believed the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, would be positive about the structure of the talks.
"And I expect to see positive developments from Sinn Fein, too, in terms of a commitment to peaceful means and the democratic process," he added.
Mr Trimble added that the UUP in remaining within the process had prevented Sinn Fein from wrong-footing them. He said: "Sinn Fein thought they could rely on a knee-jerk reaction which they could use to tell the world the real problem was unionism.
"There was an avalanche of negative publicity in Britain and the world waiting to hit unionism and we prevented it. Knee-jerk reaction by all unionists would have resulted in an avalanche of hostile publicity and we would have been struggling then.
"This week has been quite different. Indeed for unionism most of the publicity this week has been positive, and that has been due entirely to the good sense of the Ulster Unionist Party."
