On 23 February, the second round of the UN-mediated 5 + 5 Joint Military Committee (JMC) discussions concluded in Geneva. It produced a draft permanent ceasefire agreement that included the return of civilians to their homes and a joint monitoring mechanism supervised by the JMC and UN mission. According to UNSMIL, both competing delegations agreed to present the draft to their leadership for review and agreed that another follow up meeting would occur in March to finalise the details and establish sub-committees to undertake the agreement.The 5+5 military track meetings in Geneva are between five senior military delegates from the GNA and five from the LNA, though they have not met in person – the UN representatives shuttle between the two sides. The first round concluded on 8 February after 6 days of talks. Fighting on the ground has continued while the talks have been going on, although at reduced intensity for the most part. However, an LNA attack on Tripoli port on 18 February (which nearly hit an LPG tanker and led the port to be evacuated) marked an escalation and this led the GNA delegation to temporarily withdraw from the talks on 18 February.The agreement of the two delegations to a draft ceasefire is nominally a significant step forward as it could form the foundation for a more permanent ceasefire being implemented, which in turn would help create more feasible conditions for peace talks. In addition, the continued participation of both sides in the dialogue indicates that for now they both want to be seen to be engaging with the international dialogue process. However, the rhetoric from both Haftar and Serraj is that their overarching terms for a ceasefire (i.e. removal of militias and mercenaries from Tripoli and withdrawal of LNA from western Libya respectively) have not shifted, while actions on the ground continue to point towards continued fighting. As such, it remains unlikely that the leadership will agree to a permanent ceasefire before the next 5+5 meeting in March, unless conditions change significantly.
5 + 5 Joint Military Committee talks produce draft ceasefire agreement