Thai Foreign Ministry. Phumtham Wechayachai appealed to rapid bilateral negotiations to discuss concrete measures towards a peaceful conflict resolution
Thailand prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai said today that the country agreed, in principle, with a ceasefire, but emphasized the need for “sincere intentions” part of Cambodia.
According to the Thai Foreign Ministry. Phumtham Wechayachai appealed to rapid bilateral negotiations to discuss concrete measures towards a peaceful conflict resolution.
The current government leader of Thailand also thanked the president of the United States, with whom he spoke hours earlier, in a telephone conversation where Donald Trump presented a ceasefire proposal.
Also Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said today that the country accepted negotiations for an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”
“This is good news for soldiers and people from both countries,” said Cambodian leader in a statement.
Manet instructed Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn to start discussions with US counterpart Marco Rubio to end the conflict that broke out on Thursday.
Still, journalists from the France-Presse news agency in Samraong, Cambodia, about 20 kilometers from the Thailand border, heard the sound of artillery shots at dawn.
A spokeswoman for the Cambodia Ministry of Defense also stated that Thailand had attacked at 4:50 am (22:50 Saturday in Lisbon) near two temples whose sovereignty is played by the two countries.
Colonel Richa Suksowanont, the Thai army deputy spokesman, accused the Cambodian forces of shooting this morning heavy artillery against Surin’s province, including civilian houses on Sunday morning.
Richa Suksowanont said Cambodia also launched rocket attacks against the former Ta Muen Thom temple, claimed by both countries, and other areas, in an attempt to recover the protected territory by Thai troops.
The Thai forces responded with long-range artillery to reach the artillery and the Cambojan launches.
Battlefield operations will continue and a ceasefire can only happen if Cambodia formally starts negotiations, Richa Suksowanont added.
Cambodian Ministry of Defense spokesman, Lieutenant General Maly Socheata, accused Thai forces of intensifying violence with bombing in Cambodian territory this morning, followed by a “large-scale forest” involving land tanks and troops in various areas.
“Such actions undermine all efforts to a peaceful resolution and expose Thailand’s clear intention to intensify the conflict rather than appease it,” he said.
A historic border dispute between the two countries led on Thursday to clashes that involved fighters, tanks, land troops and artillery.
The fighting caused 33 deaths and more than 130,000 displaced on both sides of the border. The balance already exceeds the previous series of major border clashes between the two countries, which caused 28 deaths between 2008 and 2011.
The UN Security Council met in urgent and, on Saturday, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, condemned the escalation of violence between Thailand and Cambodia, asked both parties who commit to a ceasefire and offered as a mediator.
