Thailand and Cambodia sign new peace document with Trump: what are the conditions

In Malaysia, the US president Donald Trump has overseen an agreement between Thailand and Cambodia to resolve their border dispute, promoting the ceasefire he helped to achieve as he seeks to strengthen his candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize, reports Bloomberg.

Thai prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet signed the agreement at a ceremony.

In addition to Trump, the ceremony was also attended by Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim, whose country is hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit and facilitated the talks between Thailand and Cambodia.

Under the terms of the agreement, the United States agrees to "a major trade deal with Cambodia and a very important critical minerals agreement with Thailand," Trump said, without providing details of the agreements. Later, the Thai prime minister described the agreement as a memorandum of understanding that "will further develop sustainable and resilient supply chains for years to come."

The peace agreement, which Trump called the "Kuala Lumpur Peace Chords," also provides for the release of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war and the deployment of peacekeeping observers from the region.

Cambodia's prime minister said that both countries are discussing the possibility of a partial withdrawal of heavy weapons to emphasize their commitment to the agreement.

At the same time, diplomatic relations between the two countries remain strained, with both governments accusing each other of aggravating the situation, and tensions persist over whether the signed document is a final peace agreement.

The meaning and even the name of the document have become a matter of disagreement between the United States and Thailand: Trump called it a "peace agreement," while the Thai side called it a "declaration" concerning the border.

The country claimed that the US president used the issue of peaceful settlement as a lever in trade negotiations. Thus, a Thai government spokesperson said that Washington had included the resolution of the conflict in the negotiations on a trade agreement between the two countries. Earlier, the US imposed a 19% duty on Thai and Cambodian goods.

Meanwhile, Cambodia supported Trump's mediation efforts and nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the border conflict. Thailand, which has a stronger army and is an official US ally, has resisted external intervention.

The PM stated that peace will come only after Cambodia fulfills four conditions: withdrawing troops, defusing mines, stopping cyber fraud, and resettling Cambodian citizens who, according to him, encroach on Thai territory.

• The border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia began on July 24 – at least 36 people died in five days and more than 130,000 people were forced to flee their homes.
• At the talks on July 28 Cambodia and Thailand reach an agreement on an "immediate and unconditional" ceasefire.
• However, the very next day, the Thai army accused Cambodian troops of violating the ceasefire, but the other side denied it.
• The country's ceasefire agreement was signed on August 7.
• The ceremony with Trump's participation had to be postponed due to the death of the queen mother of Thailand.
• During his trip to Asia, Trump will have talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, one of the topics of which will be Russian-Ukrainian war, and will also meet with other politicians.