Well it seems that none of you quite know exactly what you want. Nothing wrong with that. But for your own peace of mind you need to be honest with yourself. You have love for him but at the moment you don’t want to be with him. So of course you could tell him that you see him as a good friend. But doesn’t he know this already.

He’s giving himself space from the situation by going away. This sounds like an excellent plan for him. This doesn’t mean you can’t remain friends.

From my own experience one of my best friends is someone I was in a relationship with. The love between us remains, it just morphs into a different kind of love.