I'm very new to SoaSE:R (or Sins in general) and it's freakin' awesome, first of all.

But because diplomacy appeals to me as a concept (I love peaceful victories in 4X games), I've been trying to grok it, and I'm struggling a bit:

I have a game right now where I'm pretty far along against an Easy AI opponent.  I've got our respective relations up to 5+ (both directions) by giving missions and money and researching techs.  (I have built a couple envoys, but I haven't sent them over.)

But I can't get the AI to accept a cease fire or trade agreement.  I get messages ranging from "I don't trust you." to "That sounds profitable, but not right now." but nothing ever moves forward.

Is it just fundamentally forbidden for the AI to make peace with a solitary opponent?  I mean, that would make some sense game-wise, but can we not have peace in a 2-faction universe at all?  Am I missing a technique?  I imagine envoys could raise my number even higher, but the AI seems determined to ignore the happiness values and reject my overtures out of hand...

Guidance appreciated,

-John