WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington hopes to bring Thailand and Cambodia back into compliance with a ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump between now and Monday.
“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,” Mr Rubio told journalists in Washington on Friday.
Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are scheduled to meet on Monday in Kuala Lumpur where they will discuss the border crisis.
Mr Rubio spoke on Thursday by telephone with Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and said the administration would hold further conversations over the weekend.
President Trump claimed victory earlier this year after he pressed for an earlier ceasefire, placing the Thailand-Cambodia conflict on a long list of wars he said he had “solved”.
“Both sides have made commitments in writing that they signed,” Mr Rubio said on Friday, referring to the declaration signed in Kuala Lumpur in October.
“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.”
Thailand has said repeatedly that Cambodia must make the first move to stop the current conflict by announcing its intention to cease fire and withdrawing its troops from contested border areas.
Mr Rubio defended the administration’s record, saying that American diplomacy “actually did stop fighting” although it has since resumed.
In a related development, Cambodia confirmed that China’s special envoy for Asian affairs had visited Phnom Penh this week to push for Cambodia and Thailand to de-escalate their fierce fighting.
“Deng Xijun reaffirmed that China will continue to play a constructive role in facilitating dialogue between Cambodia and Thailand with a view to promoting the peaceful settlement of disputes,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
