PUTRAJAYA, July 28 — The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand arrived in Malaysia on Monday for talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in their fierce border conflict, a Malaysian official said, amid an international effort to halt the fighting which entered a fifth day.
The ambassadors to Malaysia of the United States and China were also present at the meeting in Malaysia’s administrative capital of Putrajaya, the official said. It is being hosted at the residence of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the chair of the regional bloc Asean.
Both Thailand and Cambodia accuse the other of starting the fighting last week and then escalating the clashes with heavy artillery bombardment at multiple locations along their 817-km (508-mile) land border, the deadliest conflict in more than a decade between the Southeast Asian neighbours.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet had earlier said the talks were co-organised by Malaysia and the United States, and that China would also take part in them.
”The purpose of this meeting is to achieve an immediate ‘ceasefire’, initiated by President Donald Trump and agreed to by the Prime Ministers of Cambodia and Thailand,” Hun Manet said in a post on X as he departed for the talks. Trump said on Sunday he believed both Thailand and Cambodia wanted to settle their differences after he told the leaders of both countries that he would not conclude trade deals with them unless they ended their fighting.
Thailand’s leader said there were doubts about Cambodia’s sincerity ahead of the negotiations in Malaysia.
”We are not confident in Cambodia, their actions so far have reflected insincerity in solving the problem,” acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters ahead of his departure for Malaysia.
”Cambodia has violated international law, but everybody wants to see peace. Nobody wants to see violence that affects civilians.”
Cambodia has strongly denied Thai accusations it has fired at civilian targets, and has instead said that Thailand has put innocent lives at risk. It has called for the international community to condemn Thailand’s aggression against it. The tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have intensified since the killing in late May of a Cambodian soldier during a brief skirmish. Border troops on both sides were reinforced amid a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand’s fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had proposed ceasefire talks soon after the border dispute erupted into conflict on Thursday, and China and the United States also offered to assist in negotiations. — Reuters
