The neighboring nations ceased fighting that has killed more than 100, and displaced half-a-million after a U.S.-brokered truce failed.
Thailand and Cambodia signed a cease-fire agreement Saturday, putting an end to weeks of border clashes, the deadliest in years between the two Southeast Asian countries, with airstrikes, rocket exchanges, and artillery fire.
The deal, which became effective at noon local time, requires both sides to hold current troop positions without advances, according to a joint statement from their defense ministers.
“Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement,” the statement said. “Any reinforcement would heighten tensions and negatively affect long-term efforts to resolve the situation.”
The agreement was signed by Thai Defense Minister Natthaphon Nakrphanit and Cambodian counterpart Tea Seiha, concluding 20 days of violence that has taken at least 101 lives and caused more than 500,000 people from their homes on both sides.
The fighting erupted anew in early December after the collapse of a previous cease-fire that U.S. President Donald Trump had helped negotiate in July to halt an earlier outbreak of hostilities.
That July truce, described as immediate and unconditional, was brokered during talks in Malaysia mediated by the country’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). At the time, fighting had already led to at least 35 deaths and the evacuation of more than 260,000 residents along the 500-mile border.
Trump held separate phone calls with Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, during which he called for an “immediate cease-fire.” He later said the leaders desired an end to the violence after he gave an ultimatum that he would withhold potential trade deals with the United States unless the fighting stopped. Trump called the discussions “very good” and highlighted that both sides were aiming for a resolution.
Manet nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in August, which was backed by 70,000 Buddhist monks in Cambodia who praised his role in stopping the earlier conflict.
