The junta declared it will meet with resistance groups and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to discuss peace, but some resistance forces said no such offer has been made in practice.
Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, who assumed the presidency through a sham election, declared in April that National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) signatory groups, non-signatory groups, and resistance forces currently fighting his coup regime would be invited to peace talks.
Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) Secretary U Aung San Myint said the junta has not made any official contact with his group.
“We haven’t received any official invitation or communication yet,” he said.
There has also shown no initiative to contact the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), which resumed fighting the regime after the coup despite having signed the NCA in the past.
“We’ve also not received any offers so far,” said ABSDF General Secretary Comrade Sonny.
Kachin Independence Army (KIA) spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu also told NMG that the KIA has not yet received any official communication.
“So far, we’ve not received any communication, either in person or in writing. If we receive any, our Central Committee will review the offer and then determine the next steps,” he said.
While the junta has claimed to the international community that it will hold talks for internal peace, resistance groups that emerged after the coup—such as the National Unity Government (NUG) and the People’s Defence Force (PDF)—are not included in its list of parties to be engaged.
The junta’s peace overtures are merely symbolic gestures aimed at propaganda and do not reflect any genuine intention or commitment to peace, NUG spokesperson U Nay Phone Latt said.
“Min Aung Hlaing-led terrorist junta previously claimed it would invite the PDFs for talks, and that message was widely carried by junta-controlled media. However, the NUG was not mentioned at all, and we’ve not received any invitation for discussions,” he told NMG.
Currently, the junta is holding only informal talks with members of the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST), a group of seven NCA-signatory ethnic armed organizations that continue to uphold the ceasefire: the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC), the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), the New Mon State Party (NMSP), the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation (PNLO), the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU).
Resistance forces and political activists have criticized the junta’s peace offer as a ploy aimed at overcoming the military and political setbacks and crises it currently faces.
“The junta is desperately trying to gain recognition from the international community as a legitimate government, and that is all. It has no genuine interest in peace. We’ve already put forward guidelines on what it should do if it truly wants peace, but the regime continues to cling to the outdated 2008 constitution. It speaks of federalism in sugary words, but it doesn’t appear to understand what federalism actually means,” U Aung San Myint said.
While the junta has proclaimed it will hold peace talks, it is simultaneously carrying out a 100-day military campaign aimed at recapturing resistance-controlled territories and launching large-scale offensives.
During these offensives, the junta has committed even more serious human rights violations than before, including arresting and torturing civilians in conflict zones, using them as human shields, bombarding residential areas with artillery, drones, and airstrikes, and burning down homes.
