The Libyans, who are following the peace process as it approaches a decisive stage this week in Switzerland, only need to drive a car and try to move to the other side of their country, in order to realize the obstacles to diplomacy.
The ceasefire signed last October requires that all foreign mercenaries leave the country and reopen the main coastal road between eastern and western Libya.
But the United Nations said last week that the mercenaries are still in the country, and the road remains closed as well.
For those who are unable to use the flights that were resumed last year between the capital, Tripoli, in the west, and Benghazi, in the east, this means using a long and dangerous detour through the desert.
"The drivers face violence and abuse. Sometimes we lose contact with the drivers for two days, so that they can reach a safe place where the telephone signals are available," a worker at a transport company said.
This worker requested anonymity, fearing reprisals from armed groups in the country.
While waiting to load his minibus with goods from Tripoli and back to Benghazi, a young driver spoke of "the rough roads and lots of looting."
The young man, who has no food for his day, said that the journey takes a day and a half.
This is twice the time a driver would spend on the coastal road.
Suffering and turmoil
The continued closure of this main artery and the use of alternative roads surrounded by chaos reveals the extent of Libya's suffering due to unrest, 10 years after the uprising supported by NATO that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, and its civil war followed.
Last week, the United Nations urged the parties to the conflict to reopen the road, at a time when it was hosting meetings near Geneva to choose a new transitional government that would lead the whole country and prepare for elections to be held next December.
Belkacem Kouzeit, a member of Libya's Supreme Council of State, said he believed diplomacy was moving forward, but slowly.
He added that the political track is inherently complicated, "and this complication will continue."
But some experts in Libya warn of the risk of renewed fighting as the political process falters.
The transport company worker said accounts of the attack on the drivers had become commonplace.
"Last week, an armed group stopped a driver and stole everything, even chemotherapy doses. The bandits target everything they can find," he added.
Diplomacy and the exchange of accusations
The new diplomatic round comes in the wake of the failure of the forces of retired General Khalifa Haftar last year to seize the capital, Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord.
In recent interviews with Reuters, leaders from both sides of the confrontations exchanged accusations of refusing to abide by the terms of the armistice that the two sides announced last October.
The Minister of Defense in the Government of National Accord Salah al-Nimroush said Haftar's forces were bringing more equipment and digging new defenses.
But the spokesman for Haftar's forces, Ahmed Al-Mismari, held armed groups in the West responsible for violating the agreement.
A joint military committee from the two sides is still discussing the terms of the ceasefire along the front line between the cities of Sirte and Misrata, at a time when each side is preparing to fight.
On the GNA side, Musa Oribi Mayouf, a local field commander, said the lack of fighting since the summer showed that the current talks are serious.
But he acknowledged the risk of returning to war.
"There are obstacles, which are the gentlemen who sit in the political chairs," he added.