Military delegations from Thailand and Cambodia convened a preliminary meeting at a Thai border area on Wednesday to prepare for formal ceasefire talks, as cross-border hostilities continued and both sides reported mounting civilian casualties.
The session, held at the Thai side of the border in Chanthaburi province, was a secretariat-level meeting of the General Border Committee (GBC). The Cambodian delegation arrived at the Ban Phak Kat checkpoint around 16:25 local time for a half-hour discussion aimed at setting the agenda for a full-delegation meeting scheduled for Thursday.
Thai Defense Ministry Spokesman Surasant Kongsiri said earlier on Wednesday that the secretariat-level meeting would take place from Wednesday to Friday.
If these preliminary discussions proceed smoothly, the talks will be followed by a meeting between the defense ministers of both nations on Saturday, the spokesman told a press briefing.
The diplomatic efforts unfolded against a backdrop of intensified conflict between the two neighboring Southeast Asian countries.
Cambodia's Minister of Information Neth Pheaktra said in a social media post on Wednesday night that Thai military actions have resulted in the deaths of 30 Cambodian civilians, with 87 others injured so far.
On the same day, the Thai military reported its own losses of 23 soldiers and 42 civilians, while also confirming airstrikes on targets it described as Cambodian military bases.
A key point of contention emerged as Cambodia accused Thailand of using cluster munitions in civilian areas, an allegation Thai officials denied, stating the weapons were used strictly against military targets, and noting that neither country is bound by the international convention banning such munitions.
Thailand, Cambodia hold preliminary talks amid ongoing border conflict
Russia said on Wednesday that its armed forces gained control over a settlement in Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine, while Ukraine said on the same day that its armed forces attacked multiple Russian strategic infrastructure.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in its latest report that Russian forces brought under controlled the Zarechnoye Settlement in Zaporizhzhia Region and attacked Ukrainian troops in the direction of Sumy and Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours.
The ministry also said that over the past day, Russian forces struck Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises, energy facilities, transportation infrastructure, and temporary deployment points of Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries across 147 locations.
Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a war report released on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces attacked multiple Russian targets earlier on the day.
The report said that a synthetic rubber plant, which was located in the Russian city of Yefremov in the Tula Region and was used to produce components for plastic explosives and key raw materials for solid rocket fuel, was attacked.
It also reported that the Ukrainian forces struck a Russian base for unmanned vessel storage and maintenance in Crimea.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on the same day that Russian forces thwarted a planned sabotage and terrorist attack targeting critical infrastructure in the Tyumen Region.
According to the FSB, the suspect acted on orders from Ukrainian special services and planned an attack on a dispatch station of a major oil pipeline operated by the Russian company Transneft.
The individual attempted to extract components he had bought from a cache to assemble an improvised explosive device earlier on the day. When security personnel tried to capture him, he offered armed resistance and was eventually neutralized, the FSB said.
Also on Wednesday, Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv, said that a thermal power plant on the outskirts of the city was attacked by Russian forces on the day, resulting in one death and 13 injuries so far.
Additionally, the attack has directly impacted local heating supply and public transportation operations.
Russia claims controlling new settlement, Ukraine reports striking Russian strategic infrastructure
