The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said on Saturday that he was talking with the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand in an attempt to end his border conflict that has left at least 33 dead people.
“I just talked to Cambodia’s Prime Minister in relation to war arrest with Thailand,” said Trump, who is on a visit to Scotland, in a publication about his social network of truth.
“I just talked to Thailand’s interim prime minister, and it was a very good conversation,” he said shortly after in a new publication. “Thailand, like Cambodia, wants to be high the immediate fire and peace.
“Now I am going to transmit that message to the Prime Minister of Cambodia. After talking to both parties, [a] The high fire, peace and prosperity seem to be natural. We’ll see! “
Thailand and Cambodia met for a third day today, since the death toll of their bloodiest fighting in years increased to 33 and Phnom Penh asked for a “high immediate fire.”
On Thursday, a long -term border dispute broke out in an intense conflict that involved airplanes, artillery, tanks and terrestrial troops, which led to the UN Security Council (UNSC) to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis on Friday.
“I am trying to simplify a complex situation! Many people are being killed in this war, but it reminds me of the conflict between Pakistan and India, which stopped successful,” Trump said.
Trump also indicated that he would not advance in commercial agreements with any of the nations until he has stopped.
The Ministry of Defense of Cambodia said that now 13 people were confirmed killed in the fight, including eight civilians and five soldiers, with 71 people injured.
In Thailand, the army said five soldiers were killed on Friday, on Friday, there to 20 – 14 civilians and six military.
The death toll in the two countries is now higher than the 28 dead in the last important fight between 2008 and 2011.
Both parties reported a clash of around 5 am (3 am pkt), with Cambodia accusing the Thai forces of shooting “five heavy artillery shells” in places in the province of Pursat, which limits with the province of Treat of Thailand.
The fight has forced more than 138,000 people to be evacuated from the border regions of Thailand, with more than 35,000 expelled from their homes in Cambodia.
After the closed UNSC meeting in New York, the UN ambassador of Cambodia, Chhea Keo, said his country wanted a high fire.
“Cambodia asked for a high fire immediately, unconditionally, and we also asked for the peaceful solution of the dispute,” he told reporters.
Border row
The spokesman of the Thai Foreign Ministry, Nikorndej Balankura, said Friday before the UN meeting was held, that Bangkok was open to conversations, possibly helped by Malaysia.
“We are ready, if Cambodia would like to solve this matter through diplomatic channels, bilaterally or even through Malaysia, we are ready to do it. But so far we have not had any response,” Nikorndej said AFP.
Currently, Malaysia has the president of the Southeast Asian Association of Asia Regional Bloc, of which Thailand and Cambodia are members.
Thai interim prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai warned that if the situation intensifies, “it could become the war.”
Both parties blamed each other for shooting first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of attacking the civil infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a gasoline station hit by at least one rocket.
Cambodia has accused Thai forces to use cluster ammunition.
In the UN, Cambodia’s envoy questioned Thailand’s statement that his country, which is smaller and less militarily developed than his neighbor, had initiated the conflict.
“[The Security Council] asked both parties to [show] Maximum restriction and resort to a diplomatic solution. That is what we are calling too, ”said Chhea Keo.
The fight marks a dramatic escalation in a long data dispute among the neighbors, both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists, on their 800 kilometers shared border.
Dozens of kilometers in several areas are disputed and the fight between 2008 and 2011 exploded, leaving at least 28 dead and tens of thousands displaced.
A UN court ruling in 2013 resolved the matter for more than a decade, but the current crisis broke out in May when a Cambodian soldier died in a new clash.
