U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 12th (local time) that Thailand and Cambodia agreed, through his mediation, to halt fighting and return to a cease-fire agreement. But Thailand said it would continue military operations, while Cambodia urged a halt, saying Thailand was continuing bombings using fighter jets.
According to Reuters and others, Trump wrote on the social media (SNS) Truth Social that he "spoke with Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet," and that "the two countries agreed to stop all hostilities starting this evening and return to the original peace agreement."
Reuters reported that the two countries reached a cease-fire after armed clashes in July, but fighting had continued for six days recently in the border area. In Thailand, nine soldiers and three civilians were killed and more than 120 were injured, while in Cambodia, 11 civilians were reported dead and 74 injured.
After speaking with Trump, Anutin told reporters it "went well," but did not mention an agreement to halt fighting. He said he asked Trump to urge Cambodia to stop hostile acts, withdraw troops, and remove land mines. He later wrote on social media that "we will continue military operations until we feel there is no further damage or threat to our land and people."
Cambodia's Ministry of National Defense said on X (formerly Twitter) that "the Thai military deployed two F-16 fighter jets and dropped seven bombs on targets," and claimed that "the bombing has not stopped." Thailand's Ministry of National Defense also said through its Spokesperson that clashes were continuing.
Hun Manet said he was seeking a peaceful resolution to the dispute under the cease-fire agreement signed in Oct. last year. He added that he had asked the United States and Malaysia to verify which side fired first in the recent clashes. Cambodia's intelligence agency urged the Thai military to immediately stop military actions against civilian facilities.
Thailand and Cambodia have been locked in a sovereignty dispute for more than 100 years because boundaries along parts of the 817-kilometer border surveyed in 1907, when France colonially ruled Cambodia, were not finalized. Reuters reported that despite a small clash in May, five days of fighting in July, and the conclusion of a cease-fire in Oct., land mine explosions and gunfights continued, and fighting resumed on the 7th of this month.