The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand met in Malaysia on Monday (July 28) to try to reach a ceasefire agreement on the fifth day of their fierce border conflict, amid international efforts to halt the fighting.

The Southeast Asian neighbors, engaged in their deadliest conflict in more than a decade, accused each other of starting the fighting last week, before escalating it with heavy artillery bombardment and Thai airstrikes along their 817-km (508-mile) land border.

Photos from the Thai and Malaysian governments showed the Chinese and U.S. ambassadors to Malaysia attending Monday's meeting in the administrative capital, Putrajaya, held at the residence of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who heads the ASEAN regional bloc. "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," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a post on X.

Hun Manet posted photos of the meeting, which showed a U-shaped table formation, with himself and the Thai Prime Minister sitting across from each other, Anwar at the head of the table, and Chinese and US officials at a separate table behind Anwar.

Anwar had proposed ceasefire talks immediately after the border dispute erupted into conflict on Thursday, and China and the United States had also offered assistance in the negotiations. Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have escalated since the death of a Cambodian soldier in a brief skirmish in late May.

Both sides have beefed up border troops amid a diplomatic crisis that has brought Thailand's fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse. Trump said he believed Thailand and Cambodia wanted to resolve their differences after he told their leaders in a weekend phone call that he would not reach a trade deal with them unless they ended the fighting.

The Thai leader said there were doubts about Cambodia's sincerity ahead of the talks in Malaysia. "We have no confidence in Cambodia. Their actions so far reflect a lack of sincerity in resolving the issue," Thailand's Acting Prime Minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, told reporters before leaving for talks.

"Cambodia has violated international law, but everyone wants to see peace. No one wants to see violence affecting civilians." Cambodia has strongly denied Thailand's accusations of shelling civilian targets, saying instead that Thailand is endangering innocent lives. Cambodia has called on the international community to condemn Thailand's aggression against it. Even after the peace talks were announced, both sides reported clashes in the border area on Monday.

In Thailand's Sisaket province, Reuters reporters found an evacuated village about 20 km (12 miles) from the border. Only splinters of wood and twisted beams remained of a house hit by artillery fire after its inhabitants had fled.

Electricity cables hung over the damaged house, and debris littered the street. Windows of nearby houses were shattered, shards of glass strewn about. The area was largely empty, shops and restaurants closed, and only military vehicles, tanks, and a few cars were visible on the nearby four-lane road as the distant crackle of artillery fire broke the eerie silence. (alg)

Source: Reuters