(CNN) British and Ecuadorian authorities have held discussions over the future of Julian Assange, the Ecuadorian president said on Friday, fueling speculation that the WikiLeaks founder may soon be stripped of the country's diplomatic protection in London.

Speaking in Madrid, President Lenín Moreno suggested Ecuador was seeking guarantees that whatever Assange's eventual fate, he would not face the death penalty.

Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 when he was facing allegations of sexual assault in Sweden. The case was eventually dropped but Assange has always feared being extradited to the US, and in the past his lawyers have claimed he could face execution there.

Moreno said the previous Ecuadorian government granted Assange asylum because it agreed his life was in danger. "The death penalty does not exist in Ecuador, and we knew that possibility existed... The only thing we want is a guarantee that his life will not be in danger," Moreno said.

In a statement Friday, Moreno's communication's office stressed the President "hasn't ordered, at any moment, the removal of Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London."

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