Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said he did not believe in Ukraine’s victory in the conflict with Russia on the battlefield.
⠀
The prime minister made the announcement Wednesday at a textile workers’ rally attended by 18,000 people, the newspaper reports. Hun Sen also called on the parties to the conflict to start a peaceful dialogue as soon as possible.
⠀
“I do not believe that Ukraine will be able to return the territories occupied by the Russians during the conflict by force of arms,” the prime minister said.
⠀
He added that he said this to Volodymyr Zelensky during a video call with him on May 29, telling him that only dialogue should be the main tool for ending the conflict. “Now Ukraine is launching a counter-offensive to return these territories. But I’m not convinced that the Ukrainians will succeed,” the Cambodian prime minister said.
⠀
“I do not believe that the use of a military approach can end the conflict. I do not think that Russia is ready to give Crimea and Donbass to Ukraine. I believe that even if the United States and Western countries continue to supply Ukraine with weapons, this will still be impossible,” he said, adding that no matter how many weapons Western countries supply to Ukraine, Russia will still have more than enough weapons left to fend off attacks.
⠀
Recalling that Cambodia did not support Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Hun Sen noted that Phnom Penh does not support Western sanctions imposed against Russia either. Cambodia has always called on all parties to the conflict to negotiate peace, he concluded.
⠀
Commenting on the words of the Prime Minister, Director General of the Institute of International Relations of the Royal Academy of Cambodia (the country’s main scientific center and university) Kin Phea noted that what the head of the Cambodian government said corresponds to the real state of affairs in the conflict in Ukraine.
⠀
He stressed that the conflict in Ukraine has already escalated into a conflict between Russia and NATO, as NATO countries are intensively supplying weapons to Ukraine. The conflict became a clash between Russia and NATO, and Ukraine remained only a battlefield of this conflict, Kin Phea said.
⠀
“This is all happening because of NATO’s supply of weapons to Ukraine: at the moment, neither side has any hope for peace and an end to the conflict,” he said.
