Trump to oversee Cambodia-Thai peace deal at ASEAN summit: Malaysia FM

Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan says the US president will oversee a peace deal at the upcoming ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.

United States President Donald Trump will oversee a formal peace deal between Cambodia and Thailand on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, according to Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan.

Trump will visit the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on October 26 to witness the agreement, Hasan told reporters.

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“During the summit, we hope to see the signing of a declaration known as the Kuala Lumpur Accord between these two neighbours to ensure peace and a lasting ceasefire,” he said.

The 47th ASEAN Summit is due to take place in Kuala Lumpur from October 26 to 28, bringing together heads of state from 10 Southeast Asian nations and other dialogue partners.

Before the announcement on Tuesday, it was unclear whether the US president would, in fact, attend this year’s ASEAN summit. Trump has been similarly non-committal about whether he will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea the following weekend.

US news outlet Politico reported last week that Trump’s participation at ASEAN was contingent on whether the bloc would hold an official ceasefire ceremony with him at the helm.

Trump also reportedly requested that Chinese officials not join the ceremony, Politico said, although China and Malaysia also played a major role in the ceasefire negotiations between Thailand and Cambodia.

Trump has instead largely taken credit for ending the five-day conflict in July that killed at least 43 people and displaced more than 300,000, in a dispute over unmarked sections of the Thai-Cambodian border.

The border spans more than 800km (500 miles) and is an ongoing area of dispute that has led to violent confrontations between Cambodia and Thailand in the past.

Despite the ceasefire, clashes persisted into September along a disputed segment of the border.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet earlier this year nominated Trump for the Nobel Prize for his role in negotiating the deal and “in recognition of his historic contributions in advancing world peace”.

Trump’s attitude towards the Thai-Cambodian border conflict mirror his actions in the Middle East, where he took credit for a ceasefire deal this week between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The US president also led a gathering of world leaders in Egypt on Monday to oversee an official ceasefire signing ceremony, attended by leaders of about 20 countries.