Cambodia, Thailand Begin Talks After Biggest Clashes in Decades
The meeting of the so-called General Border Committee — one of several bilateral mechanisms between the two nations to address border matters — was shifted to Kuala Lumpur following Thailand's request to move it to a neutral venue due to what it described as a sensitive situation.
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Washington Post
32 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Russia warns against threats after Trump repositions nuclear submarines
The Kremlin warned Monday against 'nuclear rhetoric' after President Donald Trump repositioned two nuclear submarines because of what he called 'foolish and inflammatory statements' by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev's rambling comments, in a social media post, included veiled threats referencing Moscow's 'Dead Hand' capability of carrying out a nuclear strike on the United States even if Russia's leaders were attacked and unable to issue the order. 'Russia is very cautious about nuclear nonproliferation matters, and we believe everyone should be very careful about nuclear rhetoric,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday in his daily call with journalists, in which he cautioned against nuclear escalation. Peskov's remarks, the first official statement from the Kremlin about Trump's move, seemed to distance Russian President Vladimir Putin from Medvedev, a longtime prime minister under Putin who now serves as deputy chairman of the national Security Council. 'On the whole, certainly, we absolutely wouldn't like to engage in such polemics, nor would we like to comment on that in any way,' Peskov said, responding to a question about Trump's announcement of nuclear submarine movements. 'There can be no winner in a nuclear war,' Peskov added. 'This is probably the key premise we rely on. We do not think there is talk of any escalation.' Since ordering the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has often intimated that Moscow could deploy nuclear weapons, while other officials, including Medvedev, and commentators close to the Kremlin have issued hyperbolic threats referencing Russia's nuclear arsenal, which is the world's largest. Peskov's effort to play down the confrontation with the Trump administration comes ahead of a visit to Russia this week by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who has met Putin four times in a so-far-unsuccessful bid to achieve a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war. Trump told reporters Sunday that the submarines are 'in the region.' Last week, responding to Medvedev on social media, Trump denounced the Russian's 'highly provocative statements,' which he said led him to dispatch the submarines 'just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.' 'Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences,' Trump continued, capping an intensifying exchange between the two men, who have long been at odds. 'I hope this will not be one of those instances.' Medvedev, whose relevance in Russia has waned since he left the prime minister's office in 2020, now often plays the role of social media provocateur, issuing overheated, threatening statements. In 2017, Medvedev was the target of an attention-grabbing investigation led by the late Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, which used Medvedev's fondness for ordering flashy, high-priced sneakers to tie the then-prime minister to luxury properties, Navalny, who died in a Russian prison in February 2024, accused Medvedev of funneling more than $1 billion in bribes through companies and charities run by his associates to acquire vineyards, luxury yachts and lavish mansions. Russia's nuclear arsenal is central to Putin's effort to posture the country as a global power and to reinforce his conviction, shared by many Russian citizens, that Russia can never be defeated in war. On Sunday, Trump said he was sending Witkoff to Russia on Wednesday or Thursday at Moscow's request, before imposing new sanctions. Trump has cautioned that the new sanctions would likely not deter Russia's war effort. After Trump last week shortened the deadline for agreement on a ceasefire to Aug. 8, Medvedev warned on social media that every Trump ultimatum on a Ukrainian ceasefire was a step closer to war between the United States and Russia. Trump warned Medvedev to 'watch his words,' then Medvedev responded on Thursday with an emoji of laughter through tears and the nuclear threat — warning Trump of the dangers of the 'Dead Hand,' a reference to an automated Soviet system designed to launch nuclear weapons. On Friday afternoon, Trump announced he would reposition two nuclear submarines. 'A threat was made … so we just have to be very careful,' he said Friday, referring to Medvedev, adding 'We're going to protect our people.' Peskov distanced himself Monday from Medvedev's rhetoric, saying that people should look to Putin on matters of foreign policy. 'In our country, foreign policy is formulated by the head of state, President Putin,' Peskov said. He declined to comment on whether the Kremlin would tell Medvedev to tone down his rhetoric. Russia has sharpened its rhetoric toward Trump in recent weeks after U.S. officials indicated he has been running out of patience with Putin's reluctance to compromise on his maximalist conditions to end the war on Ukraine, despite important concessions suggested by the United States, including keeping Ukraine out of NATO and allowing Moscow to keep the territory it has illegally annexed in Ukraine. In his meetings with Putin and other Russian officials, Witkoff has at times appeared to misread the Kremlin's demands, commenting that he saw Russia's retention of the territories it has annexed as key to the war's resolution. Putin, however, has consistently insisted on a broader subjugation of Ukraine, including slashing the size of its military to strip it of the capacity to defend itself, effectively undercutting Ukrainian sovereignty. On Friday, Putin said that Russia's conditions to end the war had not changed and declared that any disappointment about the peace process was due to 'excessive expectations,' in a comment that appeared directed at Trump. He said that Russia's massive losses in Ukraine — likely, by this summer, to exceed 1 million soldiers killed and wounded according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies — were not in vain. 'We do not have a single loss in vain,' the Russian leader told journalists at Valaam Island in northern Russia after visiting a monastery. Since the 2022 invasion, Moscow has carefully calibrated its nuclear threat to deter Western support for Ukraine, in particular deliveries of Western missiles capable of striking deep into Russian territory. Denied those capabilities, Ukraine has used drone strikes on distant targets. These threats have, at times, been delivered directly by Putin, but also, at other times, by senior Russian officials who offer a level of deniability, including Medvedev. Trump on Sunday reiterated his threat to impose punishing secondary sanctions on Russia oil — meaning that Russia's main buyers, China and India, could be penalized in an effort to cut Russian oil revenue. Russia has spending 40 percent of its budget on the military and security forces, amid declining income. 'There'll be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions,' Trump said. 'They're wily characters and they're pretty good at avoiding sanctions, so we'll see what happens.' Signaling Moscow's tougher attitude to Trump, Russian state television, which is under the control of the Kremlin, recently aired nude and seminude images of first lady Melania Trump from her days as a model, for the second time since Trump's election. State television anchors and commentators have also toughened their criticisms of Trump and dismissed his ultimatum on a ceasefire as theatrics.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
India and Philippines launch first joint naval drill in disputed South China Sea
India and the Philippines staged joint sail and naval exercises in the South China Sea for the first time — a high-profile military deployment likely to provoke Beijing, which lays claim to the contested waters. Filipino armed forces chief of staff General Romeo Brawner said Monday that the exercises — which began on Sunday — had so far been successful. When asked if Chinese forces carried out a response, Brawner said: "we did not experience any untoward incident but we were still shadowed. We expected that already.' Chinese navy and coast guard ships have kept watch from a distance in past joint patrols with other foreign navies, the Philippine military claimed. Beijing has separate territorial disputes with both India and the Philippines, and a long-standing regional rivalry with New Delhi. It has laid claim to virtually the entire South China Sea, a key global trade route in the Western Pacific Ocean that borders the Southeast Asian mainland. Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also lay claims to parts of the waters, disputes over which have led to tense confrontations. The Philippines has staged patrols with foreign navies such as the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and France in the past to push for freely navigating the waters and strengthen deterrence against China. It has also allowed journalists to join territorial sea and aerial patrols to witness Beijing's increasingly aggressive actions. Last week, China's Ministry of National Defence called the Philippines a "troublemaker" and said it strategically aligned itself with foreign powers to stir up trouble in what China claims are its territorial waters. 'China never wavers in its resolve and will to safeguard national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests and will take resolute countermeasures against any provocations by the Philippine side,' Defence Ministry spokesperson Colonel Zhang Xiaogang told a news conference. Brawner defended the joint drills with India by arguing that Manila needed to "partner with like-minded nations." "That's what we're doing with India," he said, adding that the southeast Asian country "has to be strengthened through modernisation." The Philippines and India have a "shared commitment to maritime security, regional stability and a rules-based international order in one of the world's most geopolitically sensitive regions." The drills come ahead of a five-day state visit by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos to India. Marcos and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are set to conduct talks to boost defence, trade, investment, agriculture, tourism and pharmaceuticals.
2 hours ago
Cambodian and Thai officials meet in Malaysia to iron out ceasefire details
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Thai and Cambodia n officials met in Malaysia on Monday for the first round of cross-border committee talks since a tense ceasefire was brokered last week after five days of deadly armed border clashes that killed dozens and displaced over 260,000 people. The four-day General Border Committee meetings were initially due to be hosted by Cambodia, but both sides later agreed to a neutral venue in Malaysia, the annual chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has mediated the halt in hostilities last month. The July 28 ceasefire followed economic pressure from President Donald Trump, who had warned the two warring nations that the U.S. would not conclude trade deals with them if the fighting persisted. Washington lowered tariffs on goods from the two countries from 36% to 19% on Aug. 1 following the truce. Monday's talks focused on ironing out details to avoid further clashes. Discussions of the decades-long competing territorial claims over the pockets of land near the shared border are not on the agenda. Thailand and Cambodia have been feuding neighbors for centuries, since both were mighty empires. In modern times, a 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice awarding Cambodia the land on which the ancient Preah Vihear temple stands marked a new low point in relations, and other border territory remained claimed by both countries. Fighting erupted in 2011 at Preah Vihaer, after which the International Court of Justice in 2013 reaffirmed its earlier ruling, rankling Thailand. Relations deteriorated again sharply in May this year, when a Cambodian soldier was shot dead in a brief fracas in one of the disputed border zones, setting off diplomatic and trade sanctions, one against the other. Soon after two incidents last month in which Thai soldiers were wounded by land mines in disputed territory, for which Thailand blamed Cambodia, the two sides downgraded diplomatic relations and fighting broke out, each side blaming the other for starting the armed clashes. Thai Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Natthaphon Nakpanit is leading a delegation that includes representatives of all branches of the military, in addition to the police force and the ministries of foreign affairs, interior and defense, as well as the National Security Council. Thai military spokesperson Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri in Bangkok said the main session of the General Border Committee on Thursday would include observers from Malaysia, the United States and China. Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tea Seiha is leading Cambodia's delegation, accompanied by armed forces commander Gen. Vong Pisen. Despite the truce, tensions have persisted as both countries organized tours of the former battle areas for foreign diplomats and other observers to highlight damage allegedly caused by the other side. The two countries also continue to accuse each other of having violated international humanitarian laws with attacks on civilians and the use of illegal weapons.
