By AFP – published by Straits Times and Amarin TV
Washington – The United States hopes a renewed ceasefire will be reached by early next week to end clashes between Thai and Cambodian forces, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Dec. 19.
“We are working hard to push everybody back to compliance. And we are cautiously optimistic that we can get there by Monday or Tuesday of next week,” Rubio told journalists.
Foreign ministers of the Southeast Asian bloc Asean are set to meet on Monday Dec. 22 in Kuala Lumpur where they will discuss the crisis.
Rubio spoke Dec. 18 by telephone with Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and said the administration would hold further conversations over the weekend.
President Donald Trump had earlier this year claimed victory after he pressed for an earlier ceasefire, placing Thailand and Cambodia on a list of wars he said he solved.
“Both sides have made commitments in writing that they signed,” Rubio said.
“Those commitments today are not being kept as a result of both sides claiming grievances against one another, and so the work now is to bring them back to the table.”
He defended the administration’s record, saying that its diplomacy “actually did stop fighting” although it has since resumed.
The conflict stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800km border and a smattering of ancient temple ruins situated on the frontier.
The renewed fighting this month has killed at least 21 people in Thailand and 18 in Cambodia, while displacing more than 800,000 people, officials said.
Meanwhile the Army Military Force Facebook page released some photos showing Cambodia’s O’Chik bridge in ruins after a Thai F-16 fighter jet dropped bombs at 11.40 p.m. last night.
The attack was aimed at cutting off Cambodia’s supply lines after detection of weapons, military equipment, and Cambodian troops moving to the frontlines, posing a direct threat to Thailand’s sovereignty and security.
The Army Military Force Facebook page also posted a photo that Cambodia released accusing the Thai army of releasing rabid dogs with one of them biting the Achilles tendon of a Cambodian soldier at Preah Vihear ancient temple, with just this soldier getting injured.
Thai Public Health officials in this area are urgently vaccinating soldiers and civilians to prevent a rabies outbreak.
CAPTIONS:
Top – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during his end-of-year press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, US, on Dec. 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt and published by CNA
Insert – Cambodia’s O’Chik bridge bombed. Photo – Amarin TV
Insert – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, on January 15, 2025. Photo – Nathan Howard/Reuters and published by CNA
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