Thailand and Cambodia agreed yesterday to extend a ceasefire agreement that ended five days of deadly hostilities along their shared border last month. The talks concluded with a joint statement cautiously welcomed by the United States. Both parties agreed to a ceasefire involving all types of weapons against civilians, private property, and military targets in all border areas according to the agreement, which must not be violated under any circumstances. Senior defense officials from Cambodia and Thailand also agreed to allow observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to inspect the disputed border areas and help ensure that fighting does not resume after a violent five-day conflict that ended with a ceasefire in late July.

The neighboring Southeast Asian countries experienced their worst fighting in over a decade last month, including artillery exchanges and fighter jet raids that killed at least 43 people and displaced over 300,000 on both sides of the border. The fighting continued despite diplomatic interventions from China and Malaysia, ASEAN’s chair, which called for restraint. Reports indicate that the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand only sat at the negotiating table after U.S. President Donald Trump told them that tariff negotiations would not continue unless peace was achieved. Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh and acting Thai Defense Minister Nataphon Narkvanit met at the Malaysian Armed Forces headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to reach terms for a permanent ceasefire. Thailand and Cambodia said in a joint statement that they will hold further talks within two weeks and again within a month.