Myanmar president seeks peace talks within 100 days, rebels reject offer

Myanmar's military junta, now operating under the guise of a civilian government with Min Aung Hlaing as president, has extended an olive branch to opposition armed groups, proposing peace talks within 100 days, by July 31. This initiative, however, has been met with swift rejection from key ethnic organizations, underscoring the deep-seated mistrust and the intractable nature of the conflict that has gripped the nation since the 2021 coup.

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For groups that have not yet engaged in dialogue ⁠and negotiation, we also invite them to come participate in discussions by the final ​deadline of July 31.

The KNU and CNF, two prominent ethnic armed groups, have publicly dismissed the junta's offer. The KNU stated it had withdrawn from the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) following the coup and has no intention of returning to negotiations under the NCA framework. Similarly, the CNF declared its pursuit of a federal democratic system free from military influence, viewing the current administration as merely a rebranded military regime with whom no meaningful discussion is possible.

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The KNU has already withdrawn from the NCA since the 2021 coup. We have ‌no plans to return to negotiations or follow the NCA path.

This peace overture occurs against a backdrop of escalating civil war and international condemnation of the junta's legitimacy. The recent reduction of Aung San Suu Kyi's prison sentence, while noted, has done little to appease critics or the ethnic armed organizations fighting for greater autonomy and a democratic federal union. From our perspective in Myanmar, these proposed talks appear to be a strategic maneuver by the junta to project an image of seeking peace, rather than a genuine commitment to resolving the deep-rooted political and ethnic grievances that fuel the ongoing conflict. Western media often focuses on the international legal implications and the plight of the Bamar majority, but for ethnic nationalities, this is fundamentally a struggle for self-determination and an end to decades of military oppression, a context often missed in global reporting.

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Since we are fighting a military-political battle for this, we have nothing to ​discuss with those who ​currently call themselves an ‘administration’ after merely changing their appearance from the military.