Japan and the 15-nation European Union will start talks as early as next month on drafting a unique guns-for-butter joint assistance project for Cambodia by the end of this year, government sources said Wednesday.

The project would try to ensure the war-torn Southeast Asian country's internal security and promote economic development, especially of poorer rural areas, the sources said.

Since Cambodia's deadly civil war ended in the early 1990s, Japan has led the country's international assistance efforts.