Fighting will not end until the Tatmadaw changes its attitude, an official from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army said over the weekend during an ethnic coalition’s summit in northern Shan State.

“If there is no dialogue and the Tatmadaw does not change its attitude, fighting will not end no matter what kind of [ceasefire] agreement has been signed. The situation is very bad. It’s very difficult to stop the civil war,” Brigadier General Tar Bone Kyaw, general secretary of the TNLA, said during an August 18-20 meeting at Pangkham, the United Wa State Army’s headquarters.

The seven-member Federal Political Negotiation Consultative Committee (FPNCC) gathered to review its political dialogue policy, which currently stipulates that the groups will only meet with government negotiators collectively.

“The problem is that the Myanmar government wants to meet the Wa [the United Wa State Army or UWSA] and the Mongla [the National Democratic Alliance Army or the NDAA] separately. As you all know, the Tatmadaw has officially said we [the TNLA, the Arakan Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army] can only meet with them and participate in the peace process after we surrender our arms, so we are in a very difficult position,” he said.

In addition to insisting meeting’s occur only with all members of the alliance present, the FPNCC has rejected the nationwide ceasefire agreement, and has vowed to forge its own path to peace.

Leaders of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Arakan Army (AA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army attended the three-day meeting in Pangkham.