Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen reaffirmed here this morning that Cambodia does not have the ability to extend military support to Ukraine.
“Cambodia did not provide any military support to Ukraine. Cambodia has no ability to do so. Cambodia’s technical assistance to Ukrainian deminers is purely a humanitarian act,” the Premier underlined at a graduation ceremony of the Western University.
Cambodia did not send neither troops nor demining trainers to Ukraine, what we have done is purely for a humanitarian cause as we are also a nation affected by landmine and UXOs, he added.
Cambodia has so far dispatched its mine clearance forces to many other countries under the UN umbrella and they are currently fulfilling their mission in four countries, including Mali, South Sudan, Lebanon, and Central Africa, Samdech Techo Hun Sen pointed out.
Regarding this issue, on Jan. 24, 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation released a statement reconfirming Cambodia’s policy on Ukraine.
The ministry reiterated that the decision to provide technical trainings in mine clearance to Ukrainian deminers in Cambodia, in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is purely made on humanitarian basis as similarly demonstrated in its many Peacekeeping Missions in Africa and the Middle East under the auspices of the United Nations.
The ministry thus categorically dismissed the classification of the Kingdom under the category of “Military supportive of Ukraine” as published in the infographic by Telegram Channel “Demografiya upala” (https://t.me/populationdemography/1208), and urged the channel to rectify the above said publication on the account of the fact that this grouping is not only inaccurate, but could prove to be detrimental to Cambodia as a peace-loving country which strictly adheres to a foreign policy of neutrality as anchored in its Constitution.
Samdech Techo Prime Minister also took the opportunity to welcome any countries that wish to receive mine clearance training in Cambodia, including Russia, recalling that besides Ukraine, Cambodia used to provide such training to Columbian demining officers.
