Phnom Penh, May 29, 2024 — Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen has conveyed to Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk that the upcoming peace talks on Ukraine, scheduled for mid-June, must include all relevant stakeholders, with Russia being a crucial participant.

Hun Sen made these remarks during an online meeting with Stefanchuk on the afternoon of May 28, 2024. As a peacemaker of cambodia, Hun Sen expressed his condolences and sympathy for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which has persisted for over two years. Drawing from Cambodia's own prolonged experience with war, Hun Sen stated, "Cambodia clearly understands the consequences and suffering that the people of Ukraine are enduring."

During the meeting, Stefanchuk extended an invitation to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to attend the Ukraine Peace Summit in mid-June, which is to be held in Switzerland. Hun Sen responded that the decision to attend would be made by the Royal Government but stressed that for the peace summit in Geneva to be effective, it must include all involved parties, notably Russia.

On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation initiated what it terms a "special military operation" in Ukraine, which many other nations, including Cambodia, regard as an act of aggression. On March 2, 2022, Cambodia joined 140 other countries in supporting a UN General Assembly resolution that called for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and to respect its internationally recognized borders.

Despite recognizing the conflict as an act of aggression, Cambodia has refrained from supporting Western sanctions against Russia, advocating instead for negotiations as the only viable solution to the war.