Digital Press Briefing with Michael George DeSombre, Assistant Secretary of State for…….

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Digital Press Briefing with Michael George DeSombre, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs on the Cambodia-Thailand Ceasefire

Special Briefing

Michael George DeSombre, Assistant Secretary
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs

Asia Pacific Media Hub

January 9, 2026

Audio Player

MODERATOR:  Greetings from the U.S. Department of State’s Asia Pacific Media Hub.  It’s my pleasure to welcome journalists to today’s on-the-record briefing.  Today we are honored to be joined by Michael George DeSombre, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.  He will discuss the ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand and the implementation of the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords.

Okay, with that, let’s get started.  Assistant Secretary DeSombre, I’ll turn it over to you for your opening remarks.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  Thank you, Young.  It’s a pleasure to speak with you today from Bangkok, where I’m meeting with senior Thai officials to discuss the implementation of the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords and broader efforts to promote our shared interests in a safer, stronger, and more prosperous Indo-Pacific.  Tomorrow I’ll continue these discussions with Cambodian officials in Phnom Penh.

Cambodia and Thailand recently agreed to a ceasefire after weeks of renewed border fighting, an achievement welcomed by the United States, with direct messages of support from President Trump and Secretary Rubio.  Thailand’s release of 18 Cambodian soldiers marked a critical step toward lasting peace.  Today I’m going to outline how we got to this point and how the United States, under President Trump’s leadership, has been engaged directly to restore peace.

After a month of rising tensions, including deadly incidents and the expulsion of ambassadors, border closures, disrupted trade, and displaced thousands, on July 26th President Trump intervened decisively, calling the leaders of both countries and urging them to pursue peace and warning that certain initiatives would pause until fighting stopped.  Secretary Rubio reinforced this message, and offered U.S. support for future discussions.  Within 24 hours, Cambodia and Thailand agreed to send delegations to Malaysia for ceasefire talks cohosted by then-ASEAN chair Malaysia and the United States under our U.S. ambassador to Malaysia.  By midnight July 28th, an agreement was reached and the ceasefire began, thanks to President Trump and Prime Minister Anwar’s mediation.

In the days and weeks that followed, our teams maintained close contact with both sides, condemning potential violations and reinforcing U.S. support for peace.  This ongoing diplomacy was critical to solidifying the arrangement and reinforcing President Trump’s desire for a peaceful outcome.  On August 7th, we welcomed further progress as the General Border Committee met to establish an interim ASEAN observation mechanism.  Again, our U.S. ambassador to Malaysia represented us, this time with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Hunt VanderToll.

Subsequently, Secretary Rubio emphasized that he and President Trump expected the governments of Cambodia and Thailand to fully honor their commitments to end this conflict.  He also expressed gratitude on behalf of the United States to Malaysian Prime Minister and ASEAN Chair Anwar Ibrahim for his leadership and for hosting the ceasefire process.  At the UN General Assembly in September, Deputy Secretary Chris Landau met with the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand to reaffirm each nation’s commitment to achieving a durable and lasting peace.  Each underscored the need to de-escalate tensions and achieve a finalized peace agreement, setting the tone for continued progress.

In October, our then-senior bureau official traveled to Bangkok and Phnom Penh to meet with his counterparts and press both sides to sign a declaration of peace.  Four-party talks then ensued, including the United States and Malaysia, to finalize the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords and establish terms of reference texts.  On October 26th, with President Trump on the stage, we witnessed the historic signing of the declaration on the margins of the ASEAN summit.

I traveled to Bangkok and Phnom Penh November 1st through 4th to reiterate our support for the process, but new challenges soon emerged, including renewed violence and a temporary pause in Thailand’s implementation on November 10th, after further landmine incidents.  The United States response was swift.  President Trump again called his Cambodian, Thai, and Malaysian counterparts to get things back on track on November 14th.  Our officials remained actively involved in discussions, including early December, when fighting resumed.  My colleague traveled to Cambodia and Thailand December 8th to 11th to find a solution, while both President Trump and Secretary Rubio continued conversations with their counterparts.

After intense diplomatic engagement, we were encouraged by Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan’s leadership in convening and hosting an ASEAN foreign ministers meeting on December 22nd.  Afterwards, though a meeting between Cambodian and Thai officials through the General Border Committee mechanism, peace was once again established on December 27th.

As we have said, the United States will continue to support the Cambodian and Thai governments as they implement the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords and pave the way for a return to peace, prosperity, and stability for their people and the region.  To help achieve this, I am proud to announce that we will be providing 15 million U.S. dollars for border stabilization, to help communities recover, and to support displaced persons; 10 million U.S. dollars in demining and unexploded ordnance clearing operations; and 20 million U.S. dollars for initiatives that will help both countries combat scam operations and drug trafficking, among many other programs.

The restoration of peace at the Thai-Cambodia border opens new opportunities for the United States to deepen our work with both countries, to promote regional stability, and advance our interests in a safer, stronger, and more prosperous Indo-Pacific.

With that, I’ll turn it back to Young to take your questions.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  We will now turn to the Q&A portion of today’s briefing.

Our first question goes to Saksith – Saksith Saiyasombut from Channel News Asia, who is based here in Bangkok, Thailand.  Saksith, please unmute yourself and go ahead.

Saksith, can you please unmute yourself?

QUESTION:  Hello, can you hear me?

MODERATOR:  Yes, we can hear you.  Go ahead, Saksith.

QUESTION:  Thank you very much.  Secretary DeSombre, thank you very much for this opportunity to speak to you.  I remember when you were ambassador here to Bangkok.  I have two questions for you.

How is the United States involved to ensure that the KL Peace Accords are followed by both countries, and what can or will the U.S. do if there’s another breach and another escalation?

And my second question is that, how does the United States view China’s involvement recently, especially the – what is said has been dubbed the shuttle diplomacy between the two countries late last year?  Thank you very much.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  Sure, thank you very much for those questions.  Maybe I’ll take them in reverse order.  I’ve detailed very clearly all of the significant involvement that the United States, under President Trump’s leadership, has undertaken to achieve this peace since July.  I think I really don’t know what China did except have a meeting after the last ceasefire has occurred, so I really think there’s not much there.

As it comes to the U.S. involvement in ensuring the KL Peace Accords are kept, again, President Trump is very focused on ensuring peace in this area as in other countries, and obviously Secretary Rubio and everyone below him, including myself, are actively engaged in ensuring that happens, and that is obviously one of the reasons why I’m here today in Thailand and I will be in Cambodia tomorrow.

MODERATOR:  All right.  Thank you, sir, for your comprehensive answer.  We will move on to the next question, and the next question is a pre-submitted question from Ms. Faye Kwan, Astro Awani, Malaysia.  And I will just read the questions here that she pre-submitted:  “How is the U.S. working with regional partners to support a lasting ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand?  And are there any diplomatic tools in place in the event of another violation?”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  That’s a very good question.  We really saw in the process of achieving the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords the real active involvement of Malaysia as the then-ASEAN chair, really demonstrating the power of the chair of ASEAN to be actively involved in promoting regional peace and stability.  And so we see that role continuing within ASEAN and really are encouraged by it and look forward to supporting that.

As part of that, the mechanisms for the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords include the ASEAN observer teams, which are representatives from different ASEAN states that are there to help ensure that the ceasefire is kept and investigate any issues that arise with it.  So we believe that multilateral mechanism involving the ASEAN observer teams will be very helpful in preserving the peace accords.

MODERATOR:  Great.  Thank you, sir.  Our next questions – our next question goes to David Rising from the Associated Press, Bangkok, Thailand.  David, I will let you – I will give you permission to talk, and if you can please unmute yourself and raise your questions.  Thank you.

QUESTION:  Yes, hi, can you hear me?

MODERATOR:  Yes, we can hear you loud and clear.

QUESTION:  I’m interested just in light of what you were talking about with the multilateral mechanisms, that the initial peace agreement that was hammered out in Kuala Lumpur was fairly short on details of how it would be implemented and how it would be maintained, and we’ve seen that it hasn’t worked very well so far.  Is there any evidence that the ASEAN observers are actually active and doing anything and that – or that they will be soon?

And I guess as a second question, there’s been a lot of criticism here in Thailand of the U.S.’s involvement in the process, in that Thailand is a treaty ally of the United States, whereas Cambodia is much closer to China, and it’s seen as the U.S. is treating both of the countries as if they were the same.  And I’m wondering if this is somehow an indication of change in policy by the Trump Administration on how it treats its allies in Southeast Asia?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  I think with any conflict, especially one that has been ongoing for a long time in terms of disputes over the border between Thailand and Cambodia, these conflicts are difficult to resolve and often take some time.  So the fact that there was a breakdown and resurgence of fighting, and then ultimately a resolution, is part of a process in general.  But now we see that the KL Peace Accords have been implemented, and a ceasefire is there, and we’re optimistic that that ceasefire will be maintained.

As to the ASEAN observer teams, I think we’re also optimistic that they will play an increasingly valuable role.  Their creation, obviously, and certain processes in terms of getting people in the field, took a little bit longer than was hoped, but we’re now confident and optimistic that that will work its way going forward.

There has been no change in our policy with regard to Thailand as our strategic ally, and we’re optimistic that with the KL Peace Accords that we’ll be able to resume sort of our relationship at the appropriate levels with both Thailand and Cambodia.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question goes to one of the questions posed in the Q&A box, and it goes to Amy Chew from Nikkei Asia.  Amy, please unmute yourself and go ahead.

We seem to have – be having some difficulties with the audio, so I’ll go ahead and read Amy’s question that she posed in the chat box:  “There have been new strikes on January 6th.  There was a new strike on 6th of January.”  I believe she’s – she means there was – there were new strikes on January 6th.  “Do you expect the last – the latest ceasefire to hold?  And number two, when will the funds you just mentioned be disbursed?”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  Thank you for that question.  You bring up a very good example.  The January 6th incident was apparently an accidental ordnance from Cambodian into Thailand, and the way that the two countries dealt with it really indicates the strength and the more likely retention of this ceasefire that was resolved between the military commanders on site, talking to each other and deciding that everything was okay and there was no retaliation by Thailand at that time.  So I think this is a good indication of the stability of this new ceasefire.

What was the second question?

MODERATOR:  Yes, the second question was on the timeline of the disbursement of the funds.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  Ah.  Oh, right.  I mean, that is still a process we just announced and provided this information to Thailand today, and we’ll be speaking to Cambodia tomorrow, so we will be speaking with them and figuring out exactly how the amounts are disbursed and when.  But we’re very committed to ensuring that these amounts are used to take care of displaced persons at the border, and otherwise focus on demining, and really also focus on the scam centers that have been the cause of lots of disruption in the region and in the United States.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  I see Albert Lee has their hand raised.  Albert, please unmute yourself and state your full name and your affiliation before your question, please.

QUESTION:  Right, great.  Is this turned on?

MODERATOR:  Yes, we can hear you.

QUESTION:  All right, Albert Lee with Overt Defense.  I have two questions.  The first is, are there any details on the breakdown of the reconstruction and demining funding mentioned earlier, as in how much is each country receiving to support efforts on their side of the border?

The second is, what is the United States doing to support the border demarcation and surveying work under the Joint Boundary Commission?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  Sure, thank you for those questions.  I’ll take them in reverse order.  I mean, the Joint Boundary Commission and the general demarcation of the border is something that will be resolved bilaterally between Thailand and Cambodia.  We obviously stand by to provide support as required, but our understanding is that this will be resolved bilaterally between the two countries, and we’re optimistic that under the current KL Peace Accords and the underlying documents that this will be done.  It obviously is a challenging process, but it looks like they’re moving in the right direction.

As I mentioned before, details on the funding and exactly what’s going where is still in discussion and process, and it’s something that we should have further announcements in the near future.

MODERATOR:  Great.  Our next question goes to one of the chat box’s questions.  It’s from Yovinka Devi.  We will give you permission to talk.  Can you please unmute yourself, Yovinka, and go ahead?

QUESTION:  Hello, can you hear me?

MODERATOR:  Yes, we can hear you loud and clear.

QUESTION:  Right.  So good today. I’m Yovinka Devi from BFM Media.  I have a broad question (inaudible).  So I have two questions.  My first is on the economic risk.  So how does the U.S. assess economic risk if the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord implementation stalls, both for Thailand markets and trade in Asia?

And my second question is, the upcoming Thai elections are expected to bring greater peace and help resolve further the Cambodia-Thailand conflict?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  Thank you.  The first question, as President Trump has made clear many times, conflicts and peace are detrimental to commercial success and economic prosperity.  So we’re very optimistic that through the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords and the ceasefire that will be maintained, it will be beneficial to the economies of Thailand and Cambodia, and people will be able to revert back to their normal business activities.

Obviously, as part of that, we’re hoping for opening of the border in the near future to allow businesses that have operations across both sides of Thailand and Cambodia are able to revert back to normal operations.

With regard to the second question, the Thai elections as of February 8th, I think, will obviously be important in determining the Government of Thailand that’s going forward, but I don’t have any comments or insights into anything how it relates to the KL Peace Accords, but I’m confident that the Thailand Government, under whoever is leading it, will be implementing those peace accords, as we’ve discussed.

MODERATOR:  I see that Tsung Hsien Lee from Central News Agency Taiwan has their hand raised.  Please unmute yourself and go ahead.

QUESTION:  Hello.  This is Lee Tsung Hsien from Taiwan Central News Agency.  I would like to ask, how does U.S. respond to concerns, including in Southeast Asia, that the application of international law can appear selective in different global conflicts?  And how does this affect U.S. efforts to promote peace in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire?  Thank you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  Thank you.  I think the United States is very focused on promoting a safe, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and all of our efforts globally are intended to help accomplish that fact, or that goal.

MODERATOR:  Great.  The next question goes to one of our journalists who pre-submitted their questions.  Kerou Wang Caixin Media, who is based in Beijing, China.  And the question is:  “Thailand and Cambodia experienced two rounds of conflict in 2025, with the second being larger in scale than the first.  What monitoring mechanisms might the international community employ to help ensure long-term peace along the Thai-Cambodian border?”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  Thank you for that question.  Again, this demonstrates the value of ASEAN’s role in helping to bring about this peace, and particularly the role played by then-ASEAN chair Malaysia and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, working together with President Trump, to really help promote this peace effort and to achieve a lasting peace between Thailand and Cambodia.

So we’re optimistic that ASEAN will be able to play a larger role, and the use of the innovative ASEAN observer teams as part of maintaining this piece hopefully will be a precedent that can be adopted in future situations as well.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir, for that answer.  We will take another pre-submitted question from Mr. Chheng Niem from the Phnom Penh Post:  “How can the U.S. ensure both Cambodia and Thailand respect the ceasefire, beyond encouraging?  How can the U.S. force Thailand to withdraw troops from the Cambodian territory and pave the way for both sides to continue on demarcation works?”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  We are optimistic that both Thailand and Cambodia now desire to keep the peace and to ultimately resolve their border disputes.  This will entail significant effort by both Thailand and Cambodia, and will take probably a significant amount of time, but we are optimistic that they’re now desirous to do that, and we’ll follow through with that.

MODERATOR:  Great.  Thank you, sir.  Ms. Kanokwan Kerdplanant from Bangkok Business Newspaper, can you please unmute yourself and go ahead with your question, please?

Ms. Kerdplanant, can you hear us?

I – we can come back to you.  Yes, we can hear you.  Please go ahead with your question.

QUESTION:  All right.  I’m sorry, I think I raised hand by accidentally.  I’m sorry, I have no – I sent question already.  Sorry.

MODERATOR:  Okay.  Oh, okay.  So we can go ahead and revisit your pre-submitted question in just a little bit.

In the meantime, I will move on to another pre-submitted question from Manila, Philippines.  Ms. Marjorie Pelayo from UNTV Philippines asks:  “What measures do you have to protect other foreign nationals affected by the conflict?  If one of the parties breached the ceasefire deal, what are the sanctions?”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  The most important way of protecting all civilians from the conflict is to achieve a lasting peace, which we have hopefully achieved here, and then we’re optimistic will be kept between Thailand and Cambodia.

With regard to citizens of various countries, obviously each country has its consular affairs and others to help address their citizens, but the most important thing is to prevent the conflict, and that is what we’ve spent a lot of time and effort doing, and we’re optimistic that the fighting has now ceased and will no longer affect civilian populations.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  We have a question in the chat box from Kevin Smith.  He is an independent journalist based in Phnom Penh.  “Assistant Secretary Michael George DeSombre, the United States has long emphasized responsible use and oversight of U.S.-origin defense equipment by partners.  In the Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire, how does the United States assess the continued operation of Thailand’s U.S.-supplied F-16 aircraft?  And what role do existing end-use monitoring or conditional support mechanisms play in encouraging restraint and compliance with the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords?”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  Participants in our foreign military sales must agree to certain requirements, including that they cannot transfer the U.S. military without U.S. Government consent, and that they need to remain – retain security over U.S.-origin weapons.  We did not place any additional restrictions on Thailand.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  The next question that was submitted in advance comes from Mr. Kris Mada, Kompas Morning Daily, from Jakarta, Indonesia.  “How would U.S. facilitate predictable, stable, and measured relations between Cambodia and Thailand?  What measure for the relations?  What are U.S. priorities with ASEAN during the Philippines presidency?  What is the U.S. stance relating to Myanmar’s election?”

I will – Mr. Kris, I will follow up with you on that last question because it is off-topic, and we want to make sure that for – out of respect for everyone who joined this call to discuss the ceasefire deal and the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord, we will stay on topic for this call.  So, Assistant Secretary DeSombre, if you can please help us address the first two questions, we would really appreciate that.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  Sure.  I think we’re very optimistic with Philippines now being the chair of ASEAN, and really, we’ll be focusing with them on our joint priorities and ensuring a safe, secure, and more prosperous Indo-Pacific.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  We have – unfortunately, we are almost out of time.  I believe we can squeeze in maybe one more question, and that goes to Keigo Matsushita from Kyodo News, based in Vietnam.  And the question is:  “In December’s clash, could you please share more information?  Which side did start the attack?”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE:  What’s important now is that the ceasefire has been achieved and peace will be maintained, and so that’s what we’re focusing on at the moment.

MODERATOR:  Absolutely, sir.  Okay.  So we, unfortunately, are out of time.  I know there were about 200 people on this call today, and I will make sure that if you weren’t able to get your questions answered on the call, we will follow up with you in email after this call to make sure that you get the questions – you get your questions answered.

So thank you, and Assistant Secretary DeSombre, if you have any closing remarks, I’ll turn it back to you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY DESOMBRE: Thank you very much, Young.  I appreciate the time and opportunity to speak to all of you.  We are very focused on pursuing peace in – around the world.  President Trump is a President of peace and really believes that peace is critical to economic growth and prosperity, and it’ll be a top focus of our entire administration.  And here in the Indo-Pacific, we’re really focused on ensuring we create and promote a safe, secure, and more prosperous Indo-Pacific for all countries in the Indo-Pacific.

So with that, thank you very much, Young, and thank you, everyone, for participating, and have a good remainder of the day.

MODERATOR:  Thank you so much, sir.  This concludes the briefing for today.  Thank you all for joining us.  And we will provide a transcript of this briefing to participating journalists as soon as is it – as soon as it’s available.  And if you have any feedback or further questions, please do feel free to contact us at AsiaPacMedia@state.gov.  Thanks again, and have a great weekend, everyone.

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