The Colombian government and the largest dissident group of the former rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have agreed to re-declare a ceasefire that was suspended in May, the parties announced on Saturday as they prepare for peace talks.

The truce – the date on which it will be implemented was not specified – “aims to reduce clashes and violence”, the envoys of President Gustavo Petros and “Ivan Mordisco”, the head of the so-called Central General Staff of the FARC, said in a statement (EMC).

The EMC is made up of rebels who refused to sign the 2016 peace deal between the government at the time and the Marxist-leaning rebel group.

The text states that the ceasefire will be “temporary” and “national” in nature and promises initiatives to “promote the participation of civil society in the peace process” and “build a climate of trust”.

The delegations have been holding talks since Thursday in the mountains of Cauca Prefecture (southwest). It was the first official meeting between government negotiators and FARC dissidents, who authorities say are financed by drug trafficking and illegal mining.

The dissidents, who are estimated to number nearly 3,500 men and see themselves as heirs to the FARC, have allied in recent months with different “Fronts,” which operate in other areas of Colombia — in the Amazon, on the Pacific coast, on the border with Venezuela.

At midnight on December 31, President Petros announced a mutual ceasefire with the country’s five largest armed groups; however, he decided to suspend this agreement with the EMC in May after rebels were accused of killing four young indigenous people who opposed their recruitment into the group.

The parties announced in the statement the imminent start of peace negotiations, without specifying either when or where. According to the text, other countries will have the role of guarantors, without mentioning which ones, the UN, the Organization of American States (OAS), as well as the World Council of Churches.

A photo released by the office of the high commissioner for peace shows the official, Danilo Rueda, smiling, together with EMC chief negotiator Camilo Gonzalez Poso, also known as Andrey Aventano.

Commander Andrey made the declaration of a cease-fire a condition for the start of negotiations.

President Petro is seeking to end the armed conflict that has raged for six decades in Colombia by conducting negotiations with all illegal armed organizations, especially the National Liberation Army (ELN).