The ousted Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, said after talks last night that there was no possibility of a deal with the military-backed government that ousted him.
Zelaya has been threatened with arrest by the coup leader Roberto Micheletti if he steps outside the Brazilian embassy, where he has been sheltering with his family and dozens of supporters since sneaking back into the country on Monday.
He told the country's Channel 36 television last night that an official from Micheletti's administration had taken "an extremely hard" stand and the government's positions were "totally outside of any possibility of agreement".
Zelaya, who upset conservative elites by allying himself with the socialist Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, is insisting on his reinstatement while the de facto government has said he faces arrest and elections will be held in November.
Earlier, Zelaya had said talks were at an early stage and expressed hope at the outcome, but he had changed his tune by the end of the day.
Troops continue to surround the embassy and partial curfews were declared in border areas and the northern industrial city of San Pedro Sula, the country's second-largest city, from last night until this morning. Despite the threat of arrest hanging over Zelaya, Micheletti said yesterday he was "willing to establish dialogue wherever and whenever to try to find a solution".
Armed soldiers toppled Zelaya and sent him into exile in his pyjamas on June 28 after the supreme court endorsed charges of treason and abuse of authority against the leader for repeatedly ignoring court orders to drop plans for a referendum on whether the constitution should be rewritten.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the US president, Barack Obama, are among world leaders who have called for Zelaya's reinstatement.
The UN security council is due to meet today to discuss the political crisis in Honduras and Zelaya's future.
Micheletti has said the conflict will be resolved when Hondurans elect their next leader on 29 November. The US and other countries have said they may not recognise the vote unless Zelaya is reinstated first.