Thailand and Cambodia to talk peace in Malaysia after Trump’s tariff threat - Breakthrough comes after US president speaks with Thai and Cambodian leaders

"The U.S. already flunked the test and that should be a wakeup call," a former senior U.S. State Department official told Newsweek.

Thailand and Cambodia’s leaders are due to meet for peace talks on Monday, as a festering territorial dispute along their shared frontier dragged into a fifth day of open combat. At least 35 people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced since Thursday as the countries fight over a smattering of contested ancient temples.

Negotiations to end the border conflict, which has killed dozens of people since it began last week, are scheduled for Monday in Malaysia’s capital.

Tensions along Cambodia's northern border with Thailand have been simmering since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash with Thai forces.

Thailand warned its conflict with neighboring Cambodia could “potentially develop into a war” as troops used rockets and artillery to shell targets along their contested border for a second

Of course, trouble at the 508-mile (817 km) shared border is nothing new. For over a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points in the thick jungle punctuated with culturally-significant temples albeit with scant strategic or economic value.

People on both sides of the border share a cultural heritage much older than modern nation-states, dating back to the ancient Khmer civilization.

Thailand and Cambodia exchanged heavy artillery fire for a second day on Friday as border fighting intensified and spread, while Cambodia's leader said Thailand had agreed to a Malaysian ceasefire proposal but then backed down.

BANGKOK -- Thai and Cambodian leaders will meet in Malaysia for talks to end hostilities, a spokesperson for the Thai prime minister’s office said Sunday. This comes following pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to end a deadly border dispute, now in its fourth day, which has killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 218,000.