A report by the Indepen dent International Commission on Decommissioning due to be published tomorrow is not expected to detail any substantial progress in dealing with IRA arms.
The move comes as Irish and British government officials today begin preparations for an intense round of negotiations on the outstanding problems in the North's political process.
It will be chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, later this week.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, have pledged their commitment to becoming directly involved in the talks on policing, demilitarisation, paramilitary weapons and the political institutions, which could decide the fate of the Belfast Agreement.
Sources said there were "no surprises" in the decommissioning report, which is expected to outline continuing dialogue with representatives of the paramilitary groups but no further progress in putting arms beyond use.
Gen John de Chastelain for warded the report to the two governments at the end of last week as the extended deadline for decommissioning under the Belfast Agreement expired.
The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr David Trimble, had called for the speedy publication of the report. He resigned as the North's First Minister yesterday in protest at the lack of progress in dismantling the IRA arsenal while other aspects of the implementation of the Belfast Agreement continued.
In his last report to the governments in March, Gen de Chastelain reported no actual decommissioning but said the commission believed progress could be made.
In May, the international inspectors, who were appointed after the Hillsborough deal between the parties and the governments a year previously, reported that a number of arms dumps had been re-inspected.
At the end of May, the IRA announced it had met the decommissioning body four times since March - "clear and irrefutable" evidence of its commitment to decommissioning.
Ulster Unionist anti-agreement MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson yesterday said his party would not reinstate full government to the North without IRA decommissioning.
"Let's be clear. If decommissioning does not occur within six weeks, we will not be going back into government with Sinn Fein/IRA. Either we will be loo king as some sort of renegotiation on these crucial issues or fresh [Assembly] elections in the autumn," he said.