Members of Myanmar’s peace team and delegates from eight ethnic armed organizations that have not signed the country’s nationwide cease-fire accord have agreed to continue meeting frequently to work towards resolving their political differences and ending armed conflicts, according to a joint statement the parties issued, RFA reported.

The meeting at the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) in Naypyidaw marked the first time that the government invited the groups to attend collective discussions in a bid to make headway on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s goal of ending seven decades of warfare and creating a federal democratic union in the country.

But the talks came with a warning from NRPC vice chairman Tin Myo Win, who cautioned that one of the groups trying to expand its foothold in western Myanmar’s war-ravaged Rakhine state, the Arakan Army, posed a challenge to peace and security.