Ceasefire goes into effect between Thailand and Cambodia
The fighting between Thai and Cambodian forces erupted on Thursday. More than 30 people, including civilians, were reportedly killed, while 300,000 people were forced to evacuate.
On Monday, Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet held peace talks mediated by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. His country serves as this year's ASEAN chair.
Anwar on the same day announced that the two countries agreed on an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire."
The truce went into effect at midnight on Tuesday, local time. Since then, no clashes have been reported in the border areas.
US President Donald Trump strongly pushed the Thai and Cambodian leaders for a ceasefire by bringing up tariff negotiations. The deal was signed as representatives from the United States and China took part in the peace talks.
Military commanders from the two sides are holding informal talks on Tuesday, and officials from the two governments are due to meet to discuss borders.
The focus now is on whether the two countries can ease tensions, as both sides have maintained their stance of not making concessions on territorial rights in border areas.
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Forces advance The first source said Putin was privately concerned about the recent deterioration of U.S. ties. Putin still retains the hope that Russia can again befriend America and trade with the West, and "he is worried" about Trump's irritation, this person said. But with Moscow's forces advancing on the battlefield and Ukraine under heavy military pressure, Putin does not believe now is the time to end the war, the source said, adding that neither the Russian people nor the army would understand if he stops now. U.S. President Donald Trump's sanctions threat was "painful and unpleasant," but not a catastrophe, a Kremlin source said. | REUTERS Rodgers, the author, said Putin has invested his political reputation and legacy in the war in Ukraine. "We know from his previous writings and statements that he sees himself as part of a strong tradition of standing up to the West and the rest of world to defend Russia's interests," he said. 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However, Russia's recent gains remain relatively minor in purely territorial terms, with only 5,000 square kilometers of Ukraine taken since the start of last year, less than 1% of the country's overall territory, according to a June report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. Ukrainian and Western military sources, acknowledge that Russia is making gains, but only gradually and with heavy casualties. Russian war bloggers say Moscow's forces have been bogged down during its current summer offensive in areas where the terrain and dense urban landscape favored Ukraine, but assess that other areas should be faster to take. 'He's made threats before' Trump's sanctions threat was "painful and unpleasant," but not a catastrophe, the second source said. The third source said there was a feeling in Moscow that "there's not much more that they can do to us." 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Trump has acknowledged Russia's skill in skirting the measures. "They're wily characters and they're pretty good at avoiding sanctions, so we'll see what happens," he told reporters at the weekend, when asked what his response would be if Russia did not agree to a ceasefire. The first Russian source noted that Putin, in pursuing the conflict, was turning his back on a U.S. offer made in March that Washington, in return for his agreement to a full ceasefire, would remove U.S. sanctions, recognize Russian possession of Crimea — annexed from Ukraine in 2014 — and acknowledge de facto Russian control of the territory captured by its forces since 2022. The source called the offer a "fantastic chance," but said stopping a war was much more difficult than starting it.
