DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has said that he cannot be certain that Stormont powersharing will return by the end of the year.
Mr Donaldson had said in recent weeks that the UK government was"moving closer" to addressing his party's concerns over post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, and that the coming weeks would be"vital".
"But we'll keep working at this because we want to see Stormont restored, but it has to be on the basis that unionists as well as nationalists can support, and that means restoring Northern Ireland's place in the UK and its internal market."The DUP withdrew from Northern Ireland's assembly in February 2022 in protest against the internal UK trade barriers created by the post-Brexit protocol.
The UK and EU agreed the Windsor Framework earlier this year in an attempt to address unionist concerns about the protocol, but the DUP has indicated it will not return to the Stormont Assembly until the British government provides further assurances over Northern Ireland's place in the UK.