Speaking Thursday from inside the embassy, Assange said he had made his bid for asylum because the "Ecuadoreans were sympathetic in relation to my struggles." He had previously interviewed Correa, with whom he shares skepticism toward the United States.

"Ecuador presently finds itself in a unique situation and it is important that those responsible making the final decision on Mr. Assange's application are fully briefed on all aspects of the present," the embassy said in its statement.

Assange has been fighting since 2010 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sexual assaults on two women. Assange denies the claims, and says the case against him is politically motivated.

Both he and supporters insist that if he was sent to Sweden he would then likely become the target of a U.S. request to extradite him there over allegations linked to his leaking of hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. documents via the secret-spilling WikiLeaks website.