BANGKOK: Thailand’s military said it is ready to launch a “high-level operation” to counter any violation of its sovereignty, in the strongest words yet in a simmering border dispute with Cambodia that re-erupted with a deadly clash last week.
The army said in a statement late on Thursday that its intelligence gathering indicated Cambodia had stepped up its military readiness at their border while diplomatic efforts were ongoing, describing that as “worrisome.” The statement was in sharp contrast with one from the government just hours earlier, when it urged Cambodia to positively engage in dialogue via an existing mechanism between them.
“The army is now ready for a high-level military operation in case it is necessary to retaliate against the violation of sovereignty,” it said, ahead of a meeting of its armed forces top brass scheduled for Friday.
“Operations of units at the border have been conducted carefully, calmly and based on an understanding of the situation to prevent losses on all sides, but at the same time, are ready to defend the country’s sovereignty to the fullest extent if the situation is called for.”
Cambodia’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Thai military statement on Friday. The governments of the two countries had for days exchanged carefully worded statements committing to dialogue after a brief skirmish in an undemarcated border area on May 28 in which a Cambodian soldier was killed. Although the two countries have a historic rivalry, their governments enjoy friendly ties, partly due to the close relationship between their influential former leaders, Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra and Cambodia’s Hun Sen, whose daughter and son respectively are now the prime ministers in their countries. The issue comes at a tricky time for the Pheu Thai Party-led administration in Thailand as it battles to revive a flagging economy that could be hit by steep US tariffs, while facing a challenge to its popularity having paused a signature cash handout to tens of millions of people.
The party of the billionaire Shinawatra family has a troubled history with the Thai military, which twice toppled its governments in 2006 and 2014 coups. Deadly clashes between Cambodia and Thailand last erupted in 2011 over the Preah Vihear, a 900-year-old temple at the heart of a decades-long row that has stirred nationalist sentiment on both sides. The International Court of Justice in 2013 ruled in favor of Cambodia in clarifying a 1962 decision to award it jurisdiction over the temple, saying part of the land around it was Cambodia’s and Thai troops must withdraw from the area.
Cambodia said this week it is committed to peace and plans to resolve the issue by referring disputes over four parts of their border to the ICJ and has asked Thailand to cooperate. Thailand says it does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.
Thai military prepared for ‘high-level operation’ if Cambodia border row escalates
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Thai military prepared for ‘high-level operation’ if Cambodia border row escalates
- Thailand's military released a statement saying: “The army is now ready for a high level military operation in case it is necessary to retaliate against the violation of sovereignty"
Ukraine marks four years since Russian invasion
- Tuesday’s anniversary is expected to see the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, in Kyiv to mark the occasion
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine was on Tuesday marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with a show of solidarity from its staunchest allies and no immediate end in sight to Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
Tens of thousands of lives have been lost since the Kremlin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, confident of a quick victory but not expecting the fierce resistance that followed.
The worldwide fallout of the war has been immense, with many European countries increasing their own defense spending in anticipation of a possible confrontation of their own with Russia.
But diplomatic talks between the two sides, relaunched last year by the United States, have so far failed to halt the fighting, which has devastated Ukraine and left it facing the mammoth task — and bill — of reconstruction.
Tuesday’s anniversary is expected to see the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, in Kyiv to mark the occasion.
Both said they would take part in a “commemoration ceremony” and visit the site of a Ukrainian energy facility damaged by Russian strikes before attending a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
They are also due to take part in a videoconference meeting with Kyiv’s allies — the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” which includes Britain, France and Germany.
- Impasse -
Russia, which currently occupies nearly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, bombs civilian areas and infrastructure on a daily basis.
The Russian bombardment has sparked the worst energy crisis since the start of the invasion, during a bitter winter.
Kyiv’s Western allies have slapped heavy sanctions on Moscow, forcing it to redirect its key oil exports toward new markets, particularly in Asia.
Despite heavy losses, Russian troops have in recent months advanced slowly on the frontline, particularly in the eastern Donbas region, which has been the epicenter of the bloody fighting and which Moscow wants to annex.
US-brokered talks are ongoing, with Zelensky unwavering in his demands for security guarantees from Washington before any talk of “compromise,” including on territory, with Russia.
Russia, though, has rejected Ukrainian proposals for the deployment of European troops in Ukraine after any ceasefire deal.
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that he will pursue his objectives by force if diplomacy fails.
- Reconstruction -
The grinding four-year war has devastated Ukraine, which even before the fighting was one of the poorest countries in Europe.
According to a joint World Bank, European Union and United Nations report with Kyiv, published on Monday, the cost of post-war reconstruction is estimated at around $558 billion over the next decade.
Russia justified sending troops into Ukraine to prevent Ukraine’s ambition to join NATO, arguing that Kyiv’s membership of the transatlantic alliance would threaten its own security.
On Monday, during a medal ceremony to mark “Defenders of the Fatherland Day,” Putin insisted that his soldiers were defending Russia’s “borders” in Ukraine, to ensure “strategic parity” between powers and fight for the country’s “future.”
Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, for its part considers the war to be a resurgence of Russian imperialism aimed at subjugating the Ukrainian people.
In an interview with the BBC broadcast on Sunday, Zelensky said he believed Putin had “already started” World War III.
“Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves,” he told the British public broadcaster.
