Thailand accuses Cambodia of planting landmines after soldier injured
The soldier's left ankle was badly damaged on Tuesday after he stepped on the device while patrolling about 1km (0.6 miles) from the Ta Moan Thom Temple in Thailand's Surin province, the army said. He is receiving treatment in hospital.
Thai army spokesperson Major General Winthai Suvaree said the incident proved Cambodia had breached the truce and violated international agreements, including the Ottawa Convention banning landmines.
'Cambodia continues to covertly plant landmines while the Thai army has consistently adhered to peaceful approaches and has not been the initiating party,' he said.
The statement warned that if violations continued, Thailand might 'exercise the right of self-defence under international law principles to resolve situations that cause Thailand to continuously lose personnel due to violations of ceasefire agreements and sovereignty encroachments by Cambodian military forces'.
Phnom Penh dismissed the accusation, insisting it has not laid new mines.
'Cambodia, as a proud and responsible State Party to the Ottawa Convention, maintains an absolute and uncompromising position: we have never used, produced, or deployed new landmines under any circumstances, and we strictly and fully honour our obligations under international law,' the Cambodian Ministry of National Defence said in a social media post.
This is the fourth landmine incident in recent weeks involving Thai soldiers along the two Southeast Asian neighbours' disputed border. On Saturday, three soldiers were injured in a blast between Thailand's Sisaket province and Cambodia's Preah Vihear province.
Two earlier incidents on July 16 and 23 prompted a downgrade in diplomatic relations and triggered five days of fighting that erupted on July 24.
Those battles, the worst between the neighbours in more than a decade, saw exchanges of artillery fire and air strikes that killed at least 43 people and displaced more than 300,000 on both sides.
Thailand has accused Cambodia of planting mines on its side of the border, which stretches 817km (508 miles), with ownership of the Ta Moan Thom and 11th-century Preah Vihear temples at the heart of the dispute.
The fragile truce has held since last week when both governments agreed to allow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) observers to monitor contested areas to prevent further fighting.
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Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
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Can Putin sway Trump with economic offers in Alaska?
United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday in a bid to try and end Russia's three-year assault on Ukraine. In the run-up to the meeting, Trump said that he believes Putin is ready to agree to a ceasefire. But his suggestion that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could 'divvy things up' has alarmed observers in Kyiv. For their part, remarks from top Russian officials suggest that Moscow has tried to water down discussions about the war by linking them with other bilateral issues, particularly restoring economic ties with the US. On Thursday, Putin sat down with top officials at the Kremlin to discuss the Alaska meeting. He said that he believed the US was making 'sincere efforts to stop the fighting, end the crisis and reach agreements of interest to all parties involved in this conflict'. Earlier on Thursday, Yuri Ushakov, one of Putin's top foreign policy aides, told reporters about Russia's preparations for the talks. He said it was 'obvious to everyone that the central topic will be the settlement of the Ukraine crisis'. 'An exchange of views is expected on the further development of bilateral cooperation, including in the trade and economic sphere,' he said, pointing out that: 'I would like to note that this cooperation has a huge and, unfortunately, untapped potential.' Ushakov also announced that in addition to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia's delegation in Alaska would also include the country's finance minister, Anton Siluanov, and Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy on foreign investment and economic cooperation. The inclusion of Siluanov and Dmitriev is another sign that the Kremlin hoped to discuss economic matters at the summit. What does Russia-US trade look like? In 2021, before Russia's full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, total trade between Russia and the US amounted to $36.1bn. This included $6.4bn in US exports to Russia, and $29.7bn in US imports from Russia – amounting to a US trade deficit of $23.3bn. For context, Russia was America's 30th largest trade partner in 2021. Since then, after numerous rounds of American sanctions, trade between Russia and the US has fallen roughly 90 percent. Incidentally, Russia's overall trade balance – leaving the US – declined significantly following its decision to invade Ukraine. From 2022 to 2023, its international balance of payments fell by a whopping 70 percent, to just $86.3bn. But back in 2021, Russia's trade surplus with the US was concentrated almost exclusively in commodities. Oil, minerals and base metals like iron and steel made up roughly 75 percent of Russia's exports. Meanwhile, US exports to Russia were concentrated in manufactured goods. Were Russian exports to the US vital? The short answer is no. By the time Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the US – whose energy sector was transformed by hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in the early 2000s – was already the world's largest oil producer, at 11.9 million barrels of oil per day. One area where Russia did hold limited significance was in certain types of energy products. Russia supplied certain grades of crude oil – notably Urals – as well as refined products like vacuum gas oil (VGO), residual fuel oil and naphtha. Russian VGO was especially important for making gasoline and diesel products in US refineries, which lacked enough domestic feedstock with the optimal chemical and physical properties. Elsewhere, the US continues to import limited quantities of uranium hexafluoride, a chemical important in uranium processing, from Russia. Some US utility companies still have supply contracts with Russia, which accounted for about one-third of America's enriched uranium needs when war broke out. As with energy products, however, American firms exposed to Russian uranium supplies have readjusted their supply chains in response to sanctions. What's more, US companies like X-energy and Orano have invested heavily in domestic production in recent years. Does Russia have any other leverage? In the wake of sanctions after February 2022, most Russian commodity shipments were rerouted from Western countries to China at discounted prices, including for energy products and uranium. Indeed, trade between China and Russia has grown in parallel with sanctions on Russia. A common border, shared geopolitical perspectives and joint opposition to the US have deepened bilateral relations. Russia-China trade saw annual growth of nearly 30 percent in both 2022 and 2023, when it hit $240.1bn, according to the Centre for European Policy Analysis. In 2024, Russia climbed to 7th place among China's trading partners, up from 13th place in 2020. During that time, China has supplied Russia with more high-end products – like advanced electronics and industrial machinery – while Moscow has solidified its position as a top supplier of oil and gas to Beijing. What's more, the two countries conduct regular naval exercises and strategic bomber patrols together. The US has consistently expressed concerns over joint military drills and views the China-Russia alignment as a threat to its global leadership role. Putin will be aware of these dynamics heading into Friday's meeting. What else could Putin offer Trump? In March, Putin's investment envoy – Kirill Dmitriev – claimed that Russia and the US had started talks on rare earth metals projects in Russia, and that some American companies had already expressed an interest in them. 'Rare earth metals are an important area for cooperation, and, of course, we have begun discussions on various rare earth metals and (other) projects in Russia,' Dmitriev told the Izvestia newspaper. China's almost total global control over the production of critical minerals – used in everything from defence equipment to consumer electronics – has focused Washington's attention on developing its own supplies. The US Geological Survey estimates Russia's reserves of rare earth metals at 3.8 million tonnes, but Moscow has far higher estimates. According to the Natural Resources Ministry, Russia has reserves of 15 rare earth metals totalling 28.7 million tonnes, as of January 2023. But even accounting for the margin of error hanging over Russia's potential rare earth supplies, it would still only account for a tiny fraction of global stockpiles. As such, the US has been pursuing minerals-for-security deals with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ukraine in recent months, in an effort to wrestle control of the global supply chain away from China. It may try and do the same with Russia. What does Russia want from these meetings? Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Western countries have imposed 21,692 sanctions on Russia, mostly against individuals. Key sanctions on Moscow include import bans on Russian oil, a price cap on Russian fuel, and the freezing of Russian central bank assets held in European financial institutions. But on July 14, Trump threatened to impose so-called secondary sanctions, that if carried out, would mark a notable shift. Since then, he has targeted India – the second biggest buyer of Russian oil – by doubling a 25 percent tariff on its goods to 50 percent, as a penalty for that trade with Moscow. So far, Trump has not imposed similar secondary tariffs on China, the largest consumer of Russian oil. But he has suggested that Beijing could face such tariffs in the future, as the US tries to pressure countries to stop buying Russian crude, and thereby corner Putin into accepting a ceasefire. Members of Trump's administration have also indicated that if the Trump-Putin talks in Alaska don't go well, the tariffs on India could be increased further. Meanwhile, lawmakers from both US political parties are pushing for a bill – the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 – that would also target countries buying Russian oil and gas. The bill would give Trump the authority to impose 500 percent tariffs on any country that helps Russia. US senators are reportedly waiting on Trump's OK to move the bill forward. In Alaska, Putin is expected to demand that Western sanctions on Russia be eased in exchange for Moscow agreeing to any peace deal.
Al Jazeera
9 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump-Putin Alaska summit: What's on the agenda and what's at stake?
United States President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday in a bid to find common ground that could lead to a lasting ceasefire deal in Russia's three-year-long war on Ukraine. The highly anticipated meeting is the latest in Trump's numerous, but so far unsuccessful, attempts to end the Ukraine war and keep the promises he made on the campaign trail last year, when he claimed he would end the conflict within 24 hours if elected. It also marks the first time in a decade that Putin will visit the US, as well as the first-ever visit of a Russian leader to Alaska. While President Trump has tried to downplay expectations ahead of the meeting, he also warned on Thursday that Russia could face 'serious consequences' if Putin did not agree to a ceasefire. Here's what to know about the Alaska meeting: When and where are Trump and Putin meeting? Both leaders will meet at the US military's Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. The time of the meeting is scheduled for about 11:30am Alaska time (19:30 GMT), although this could change. Accompanying Russian delegation members include: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, and Special Presidential Envoy on Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Kirill Dmitriev. It is not yet clear who will accompany Trump for the meeting from the US side. Are Zelenskyy and European leaders attending? No, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not attend the Alaska meeting, nor will European leaders. Asked why Zelenskyy was not at the table, Trump chided the Ukrainian president at a White House news briefing on August 11, saying that Zelenskyy had ruled for three years and 'nothing happened' in terms of ending the war. 'I would say he could go, but he's gone to a lot of meetings,' Trump said. Analyst Neil Melvin of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a London-based think tank, said Europe was essentially an observer in a matter that could determine its fate because it lacked leverage. 'European leaders have been relegated to the margins with the [European Union] seen by Trump and Putin as largely irrelevant,' he said. Ahead of the meeting, on Wednesday, Trump, alongside US Vice President JD Vance, held a virtual meeting with Zelenskyy and other European leaders. Analysts say it was a final attempt on the part of the Europeans to steer the meeting in Ukraine's favour. Zelenskyy joined the virtual meeting from Berlin. Other leaders who attended were from Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Finland and Poland. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and NATO chief Mark Rutte were also present. What's the significance of Alaska as the venue? Alaska, which is located northwest of the US mainland, is the closest point at which Russia and the US are neighbours. The US state is closer to Russia than it is to the US mainland. On the Russian side, it is closest to the autonomous Chukotka district. Originally inhabited by Indigenous Americans, the region was first colonised by the old Russian empire in the 18th century. Due to the high costs of maintaining the faraway location, Moscow sold Alaska to the US in 1867 for $7.2m, the equivalent of $162m today. Russian influence still abounds in the region, visible in the Russian Orthodox churches still present, and even in the Russian surnames of some Alaskans. The Elmendorf-Richardson base, where the meeting will be held, is also significant: It was originally an air force base built in 1940, during World War II. But its role expanded significantly during the Cold War that followed. The US was worried about possible Soviet attacks on Alaska, and thus built monitors and anti-aircraft systems to counter any threats. The airbase was an important part of that mission. The air squadrons based there are still positioned to intercept any Russian aircraft that might seek to enter US airspace. Still, the US has not clarified why it chose Alaska as the venue for the summit. What's on the agenda? The two leaders will discuss the terms for a possible ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. On the agenda is how such a deal could look, including possible territorial concessions on either side. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Its military currently controls about 19 percent of Ukrainian land across Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Kherson and small parts of Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk provinces. Ukraine controlled parts of Russia's Kursk region from August 2024 but has since lost most of the territory. What land swaps could Trump and Putin discuss? Trump, on Monday, suggested in a news briefing that Ukraine and Russia could swap territory in order to reach a land deal. However, he walked back that suggestion on Tuesday at another briefing as his suggestion proved controversial across Europe. Trump promised to get back some Ukrainian territory. 'Russia occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They occupied prime territory. We're going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine,' he said. As part of any swap deal, analysts believe that Putin will press for Ukraine to withdraw from the parts of Donetsk that its troops still control. That would give Russia complete control of the Donbas region, which includes Luhansk and Donetsk – Russia already controls almost all of Luhansk – in addition to Crimea and chunks of Kherson, Zaporizhia and other southern regions. It will also want Ukraine to relinquish the tiny part of Kursk in Russia that Kyiv's forces occupy. In exchange, Russia might be willing to give up the small areas in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions under its control. Moscow invaded and illegally occupied Crimea in March 2014. Pro-Russian militias seized parts of the Donbas starting from April 2014, triggering conflict with resisting Ukrainian troops. Much of the region was then taken over by invading Russian forces following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. What are Trump's expectations for the summit? President Trump said on Monday that he expects this meeting to be a 'feel-type' conversation between him and Putin, one where he understands what the Russian leader wants. A second meeting, he has said, is likely going to come from it soon and will include Zelenskyy and Putin, with Trump likely hosting it. However, Trump sounded a more severe tone on Wednesday. He warned that if the Friday meeting ended without Russia agreeing to peace in Ukraine, there would be 'very severe consequences' for Russia. Trump did not specify what US actions might be. He'd earlier threatened economic sanctions on Russia 'within 50 days' if Moscow did not end the war. However, the Alaska meeting was announced as the deadline of August 8 arrived, with no significant action from Washington. Presently, Russia is under significant Western sanctions, including bans on its banks and its crude oil. In late July, the US slammed India with tariffs for buying Russian oil, and this week, US officials have warned of secondary sanctions on that country if Friday's talks fail. What has Russia said it wants from the meeting? Moscow presented a proposal to the US on August 6, last week, stating its requests, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal. Russia's asks remain similar to its stated goals in June 2024. Moscow says it will stop the war if: Kyiv drops its ambitions to join NATO, and if the country disarms significantly. If Kyiv pulls back and cedes all of the Donbas in return for Russia halting advances on Kherson and Zaporizhia, and handing back small occupied parts of Sumy and Kharkiv. If Western sanctions are relaxed as part of a peace deal. But Russian officials have since also indicated that they want any movement towards peace to also serve as a launchpad for improved ties with the US. Putin's delegation for the Alaska summit suggests that Russia might make economic offers – including the promise of investments in the US – to Trump. What are Ukraine and Europe seeking from the talks? Zelenkyy has in the past said that Ukraine will not cede territory. He reiterated that on August 9, in light of Putin's proposal to Trump, and stated that Ukraine would not 'gift land to the occupier' and that it was impossible to do so under Ukrainian law. Europe, meanwhile, has been nervous about what Trump might agree to. Following the three-way call between Trump, Zelenskyy and European leaders on Wednesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and the UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer outlined what the European coalition wanted: That the US not agree to any territorial deals without Ukraine being present Ukraine needs credible security guarantees as part of any peace deal, that is, a guarantee of non-invasion by Russia. Zelenskyy reiterated those calls and added that Ukraine should still be allowed to join NATO if a ceasefire is reached. He also said sanctions should be strengthened if Russia fails to agree to a peace deal on Friday. What could the outcome be? Some analysts are hopeful about the prospects of the beginnings of a peace deal emerging from the summit. The big question, they say, is whether Ukraine will agree to a possible deal between the two leaders in Alaska, if its terms are unplatable to Kyiv. However, others, like Melvin of RUSI, think this meeting is ultimately a play by Russia to stall the US from making good on its sanctions threat, while allowing Moscow to keep advancing militarily in Ukraine. 'Putin believes that he can win [and] is anxious to stall the United States and any further pressure it may seek to put on Russia,' he said. 'The most likely outcome of the summit is then that there may be some announcements of steps forward, but the war will continue.'
Al Jazeera
13 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Why did Russia sell Alaska to the United States?
United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday to discuss how to end the war in Ukraine. On Wednesday, following a virtual meeting with European leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump warned of 'severe consequences' if Putin refuses to accept a ceasefire after more than three years of war. The venue for the high-profile meeting is Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a US military installation on the northern edge of Alaska's most populous city. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is Alaska's largest military base. The 64,000-acre outfit is a key US site for Arctic military drills and readiness. When Trump visited the base during his first term, in 2019, he said the troops there 'serve in our country's last frontier as America's first line of defence'. But that wasn't always the case. Indeed, the US government actually bought Alaska from Russia – separated by just 90km (55 miles) at the narrowest point of the Bering Strait – in 1867. At a news briefing on August 9, Russian presidential assistant Yuri Ushakov pointed out that the two countries are neighbours. 'It seems quite logical for our delegation simply to fly over the Bering Strait and for such an important … summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska,' Ushakov said. When did Russia assume control of Alaska? When Russian Tsar Peter the Great dispatched the Danish navigator Vitus Bering in 1725 to explore the Alaskan coast, Russia already had a high interest in the region, which was rich in natural resources – including lucrative sea otter pelts – and sparsely populated. Then, in 1799, Emperor Paul I granted the 'Russian-American Company' a monopoly over governance in Alaska. This state-sponsored group established settlements like Sitka, which became the colonial capital after Russia ruthlessly overcame the native Tlingit tribe in 1804. Russia's Alaskan ambitions, however, quickly faced numerous challenges – the vast distance from then-capital St Petersburg, harsh climates, supply shortages, and growing competition from American explorers. As the US expanded westward in the early 1800s, Americans soon found themselves toe to toe with Russian traders. What's more, Russia lacked the resources to support major settlements and a military presence along the Pacific coast. The history of the region then changed dramatically in the mid-19th century. Why did Russia sell Alaska after the Crimean War? The Crimean War (1853-1856) started when Russia invaded the Turkish Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, modern-day Romania. Wary of Russian expansion into their trade routes, Britain and France allied with the ailing Ottoman Empire. The war's main theatre of battle became the Crimean Peninsula, as British and French forces targeted Russian positions in the Black Sea, which connects to the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits – previously controlled by the Ottoman Empire. After three years, Russia humiliatingly lost the war, forcing it to reassess its colonial priorities. According to calculations by Advocate for Peace, a journal published by the American Peace Society in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Russia spent the equivalent of 160 million pounds sterling on the war. Meanwhile, due to overhunting, Alaska yielded little profit by the mid-1800s. Its proximity to British-controlled Canada also made it a liability in any future Anglo-Russian conflict. By the early 1860s, Tsar Alexander II concluded that selling Alaska would both raise funds Russia desperately needed and prevent Britain from seizing it in a future war. The US, which had continued to expand across the continent, emerged as a willing buyer, leading to the 1867 Alaska Purchase. How was the sale received in the US? After the American Civil War ended in 1865, Secretary of State William Seward took up Russia's longstanding offer to buy Alaska. On March 30, 1867, Washington agreed to buy Alaska from Russia for $7.2m. For less than 2 cents an acre (4 metres), the US acquired nearly 1.5 million sq km (600,000 square miles) of land and ensured access to the Pacific northern rim. But opponents of the Alaska Purchase, who saw little value in the vast ice sheet, persisted in calling it 'Seward's Folly' or 'Seward's Icebox'. 'We simply obtain by the treaty the nominal possession of impassable deserts of snow, vast tracts of dwarf timbers… we get… Sitka and the Prince of Wales Islands. All the rest is waste territory,' wrote the New York Daily Tribune in April 1867. But in 1896, the Klondike Gold Strike convinced even the harshest critics that Alaska was a valuable addition to US territory. Over time, the strategic importance of Alaska was gradually recognised, and in January 1959 Alaska finally became a US state. What's its economy like now? By the early 20th century, Alaska's economy began to diversify away from gold. Commercial fishing, especially for salmon and halibut, became a major industry, while copper mining boomed in places like Kennecott. Then, during World War II, the construction of military bases brought infrastructure improvements and population growth. The most transformative moment, however, came in 1968 with the discovery of vast oil reserves at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic coast. Oil revenues became the cornerstone of Alaska's economy, funding public services as well as the Alaska Permanent Fund, which pays annual dividends – via returns on stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets – to residents. These payments, known as the Permanent Fund Dividend, will ensure that Alaska's oil wealth continues to benefit residents even after reserves run out. This system has allowed Alaska to have no state income tax or state sales tax, a rarity in the US. More recently, tourism has surged in Alaska, drawing visitors to the state's national parks and glaciers. Today, Alaska has transformed from a ridiculed purchase into a resource-rich state, built on a mix of natural resource extraction, fishing and tourism. Meanwhile, despite Alaska's history of trading land like currency, President Zelenskyy will hope that Friday's meeting between Trump and Putin does not come at the expense of Ukrainian territory.
