He said he understood from Wikileaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson he would be "leaving the embassy" after two years' refuge but gave no more details.

 

Mr Assange is wanted for questioning over alleged² sex assaults in Sweden and faces arrest if he leaves the embassy.

 

Mr Hrafnsson later said the plan "as always" was for Mr Assange to depart when the UK "calls off the siege".

 

"The world is not coming to an end," Mr Hrafnsson told reporters inside the embassy.

 

"The plan, as always, is to leave as soon as the UK government decides to honour its obligations in relation to international agreements."

 

Mr Assange, 43, faces questioning by prosecutors³ in Stockholm over claims made by two women in 2010. He denies the allegations and sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in June 2012 shortly after the UK's Supreme⁴ Court dismissed his efforts to block his extradition⁵. 

 

Since then police have maintained a round-the-clock presence outside the building, in London's Knightsbridge, at a cost of £6.4m.

 

Clive Coleman, the BBC's legal correspondent, said that nothing had changed since 2012 and Mr Assange would be arrested and extradited（引渡） if he left the embassy. 

 

Speaking at the news conference, Mr Assange said: "I understand that Kristinn Hrafnsson has said that he can confirm I am leaving the embassy soon".

 

But he added it was not because he needed medical treatment, as had been reported in some of the UK press.

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