On July 26, local time, US President Trump said on social media that he had phone calls with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manai and Thai Acting Prime Minister Puttan on the same day, saying that the United States would only consider reaching a trade agreement with the two countries if the border conflict between the two countries ended.
Trump said that the United States has trade relations with both Thailand and Cambodia, and if the two countries are in conflict, the United States does not want to reach any agreement with the two countries. “When everything is settled and peace is coming, I look forward to reaching a trade agreement with these two countries.” Trump also said that the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia agreed to “meet immediately and quickly reach a ceasefire agreement” and hope to return to the “trade negotiation table” with the United States.
Thailand said it agreed to a ceasefire in principle and hoped to hold talks as soon as possible
The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs later issued a notice on social media in response to Trump’s call with Puttan and his proposal for an immediate ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia. The notice said that Puttan confirmed that the Thai side agreed to a ceasefire in principle and asked the United States to convey to the Cambodian side: Thailand hopes to hold bilateral talks as soon as possible to jointly determine clear ceasefire measures and procedures and ultimately resolve the conflict peacefully.
Cambodia agrees to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire proposal
Hong Manet responded on social media that Cambodia agreed to the “proposal for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between the armed forces of the two countries.” In fact, he had expressed this position when he spoke on the phone with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar, the rotating chair of ASEAN, on the 24th.
Trump sent letters to the leaders of more than 20 trading partners in the middle and early part of this month, saying that the United States will impose tariffs ranging from 20% to 50% on these trading partners from August 1st, in order to pressure them to reach a trade agreement with the United States. Among them, a 36% tariff will be imposed on Thailand and Cambodia.
The border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia entered its third day on the 26th. According to data released by both sides, the conflict has caused hundreds of casualties and more than 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate to safe areas. The United Nations Security Council held an emergency closed-door meeting on the Thai-Cambodian border conflict on the 25th, Eastern Time, and both Thailand and Cambodia proposed to resolve the dispute through peaceful means.