Italy's anti-establishment Five-Star Movement said on Tuesday it welcomed signs from the Democratic Party (PD) that PD was willing to accept a return of Giuseppe Conte as prime minister and it wanted to resume talks to form a government.
However, Five-Star halted negotiations on Tuesday morning with the centre left, demanding Mr Conte returns as prime minister.
The parties are negotiating after the collapse of the previous coalition of Five-Star and the hard-right League which triggered Conte's resignation.
"We positively greet the openings from authoritative members of the PD on the future role of Prime Minister Conte. We are ready for a dialogue on policies," Five-Star said.
Five-Star party leader Luigi Di Maio said he was “tired of playing games” and a deadline has been set for Wednesday morning to reach consensus.
Mr Conte resigned as prime minister last week unexpectedly after Matteo Salvini, the leader of the nationalist League party, tabled a no-confidence motion against him.
US President Donald Trump waded into the argument on Tuesday, tweeting that it is “starting to look good for the highly respected Prime Minister of the Italian Republic, Giuseppe Conte. Represented Italy powerfully at the G-7”.
While Five-Star and the PD differ on who should be prime minister, they also clash on Italy's budget and immigration.
Should the two parties fail to reach an agreement, elections are likely during the autumn.
