Cambodia says it is ready to sign a peace deal with Thailand, coordinated by US President Donald Trump, and is waiting for a decision from the Thai side, said Suos Yara, a spokesman for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.
“Right now, from the Cambodian side, we are ready at any time. The hope now is to create something that can be called a historic moment, when the President (of the US) attends the ASEAN Summit,” the Straits Times quoted Suos Yara as saying.
“We have to wait for the Thai side,” he added.
Trump has pressured Malaysia, the host of this month’s ASEAN Summit, saying that he will only attend if he can preside over the signing of a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia on the sidelines of the meeting.
The two neighbouring countries signed a ceasefire agreement in July, after Trump threatened to block trade deals if the five days of bloody fighting in July did not stop.
Thai civilians and soldiers were killed during the clashes, while the number of Cambodian casualties remains unclear.
Since then, both sides have accused each other of violating the ceasefire and Thailand has kept several border checkpoints closed.
Before entering peace deal negotiations, Thailand has laid out four key conditions for Cambodia:
· Withdrawal of troops from the border
· Removal of land mines
· Crackdown on cyber scam operations targeting Thai and foreign nationals
· Resettlement of Cambodian citizens encroaching on Thai territory
Suos Yara acknowledged the issues, but downplayed the concern over land mines.
He emphasised that both countries must agree to use colonial-era maps, specifically those from the Franco-Siamese treaties of the early 1900s that defined the current border.
“We want to extend our humble thanks to President Trump,” Suos Yara added. “Of course, we wish to have a peace deal with our neighboring country, but Donald Trump really did contribute to the ceasefire, and that has made us more relaxed up to now,” he claimed.
