Phnom Penh, June 8 (AseanAll)  — “Please do not try to blame China when Cambodia does not participate in the peace summit and please stop linking Cambodia to the geopolitical game against China,” said Hun Sen, President of the Senate of Cambodia, in a message on his social media networks on the evening of June 07, 2024.

According to Cambodian state news agency AKP, the former Prime Minister of Cambodia made the remarks after a foreign media on June 7, 2024, published a report on Southeast Asian countries attending the upcoming Ukraine Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland on June 15-16, 2024.

“They try to blame China if Cambodia does not participate,” Hun Sen underlined.

Hun Sen recalled that in a video meeting with the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk last week, he informing him that Cambodia is considering a peace plan and whether or not to join.

“I informed him (H.E. Ruslan Stefanchuk) that the peace summit would not be successful if relevant parties especially Russia were not invited to join. I told him that before, during, and after the summit, Russia would launch strong military attack on the battlefield. I also said this to the CIA director on June 2 and the U.S. Secretary of Defence on June 4 when they came to see me. Does China advise me to speak like this or does Cambodia have the right to speak?” he asked.

Hun Sen said Cambodia is an independent state and he has worked with Chinese leaders for many years and has never heard any Chinese leaders telling him to do this or that to fulfill the Chinese wishes. On the contrary, those who accuse Cambodia of following China, always come to put pressure on Cambodia to follow themselves, thus often leading to word clashes with him.

“Cambodia’s decision not to attend the peace summit is Cambodian right, as Cambodia sees it unsuccessful. For other countries to join or not, it is their rights,” stressed Hun Sen.