Assange, who appeared on the balcony of his Ecuadorean embassy hideout in London this evening, said he will not "forgive" those who "slandered" him.
"Today is an important victory for me and for the UN's human rights system but it by no means erases the years of detention without charge in prison, under house arrest and almost five years here in this embassy without sunlight, seven years without charge while my children grew up without me. And that is not something I can forget, it is not something I can forgive," he told reporters.
The 45-year-old Australian, who has lived inside the Ecuador embassy for almost five years after seeking asylum, said the "road is far from over" while adding that it was "extremely regretful" that he was still being threatened with arrest if he leaves the embassy.
Earlier, Assange had used social media to vent his anger hours after the Swedish prosecution decided to drop its rape investigation against him.
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"Detained for 7 years without charge by while my children grew up and my name was slandered. I do not forgive or forget," he tweeted after tweeting a smiling picture of himself.
"If he were to return to Sweden before the statute of limitation on this case expires in August 2020, the preliminary investigation could be resumed... It is regrettable we have not been able to carry out the investigation. We are not making any pronouncement about guilt," Ny said.
The rape allegation against the computer programmer had followed a Wikileaks conference in Stockholm in 2010.
Ecuador Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said the UK should now grant Assange safe passage, as the European arrest warrant against him "no longer holds".
"Ecuador welcomes the decision to drop the charges," Long said.
However, Scotland Yard has said that it has an obligation to enforce the arrest warrant on Assange a lesser charge of skipping bail.
According to his lawyer, Assange wants political asylum in France after he leaves the Ecuador embassy.
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