US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said American officials are in Malaysia to help mediate talks between Cambodia and Thailand, in order to bring an end to the conflict between the two neighbouring countries.
“Cambodia and Thailand are scheduled to begin high-level talks in Malaysia shortly in hopes of achieving an immediate ceasefire. State Department officials are on the ground in Malaysia to assist these peace efforts,” Rubio said in a statement released on Sunday.
Rubio also confirmed that both he and President Donald Trump are closely involved in monitoring the situation. “Both President Donald Trump and I remain engaged with our respective counterparts for each country and are monitoring the situation very closely. We want this conflict to end as soon as possible,” he added.
WHY THE TALKS MATTER
The meeting comes as tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have escalated. Both countries have blamed each other for launching artillery attacks across disputed border areas. Talks in Malaysia mark the first major diplomatic effort to ease the violence that escalated over the past few days.
The conflict intensified in late May when a Cambodian soldier was killed during a brief skirmish. Troops on both sides of the border were reinforced amid a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand’s fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse.
Fighting resumed last Thursday and quickly turned into the worst military clash between the two Southeast Asian neighbours in over ten years.
So far, more than 30 people have died in the clashes, including 13 civilians in Thailand and 8 in Cambodia. Officials said over 200,000 people have been forced to flee from border regions to avoid the violence.
TRUMP THREATENS TO HALT TRADE DEALS
US President Trump said on Sunday that both Cambodia and Thailand had agreed to begin negotiations after he warned their leaders that continuing the conflict could hurt future US trade deals. However, Cambodia and Thailand each said the other had launched artillery attacks across contested border areas early on Sunday.
Trump revealed that he personally spoke with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai.
He said he made it clear that ongoing violence would jeopardize trade agreements with the US. “I told both leaders that if the fighting doesn’t stop, we will not move forward with any trade deals. We believe both sides want peace, and we’re doing everything we can to support that,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
As of Monday, the Cambodian and Thai leaders are scheduled to meet face-to-face in Kuala Lumpur for direct talks. The acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai will lead the negotiating team, the Thai government said in a statement. Talks are scheduled to begin at 3 pm local time (0700 GMT).
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With inputs from Reuters
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