Hungary is ready to provide a platform for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday in an interview with RIA Novosti, as quoted by Lenta.
“At the beginning of this war I conveyed to both sides, [ministrului rus de Externe] Sergey Lavrov and [șeful cancelariei președintelui ucrainean Vladimir Zelenski] Andrii Yermak, that Hungary is ready to offer a place for peace talks at any time. This proposal is still relevant,” Siyarto said in an interview with Russian state media from Kazakhstan.
The head of Hungarian diplomacy is currently in the city of Almaty to participate in the EU-Central Asia Economic Forum.
“When Russia and Ukraine express their readiness, we are ready to create all the necessary conditions for this,” he said about the peace talks.
Szijjarto noted that during the war, Hungarians are also killed, whom Kyiv mobilizes into the Ukrainian armed forces, so Budapest is interested in “saving human lives through a peaceful resolution” of the conflict.
“Hungary is a country that borders Ukraine and is paying a high price for this conflict,” he concluded.
Hungary’s new diplomatic juggling act regarding the war in Ukraine
Hungary’s foreign minister’s comments came days after Budapest blocked another tranche of military aid to Ukraine from the EU’s European Peace Fund, demanding “guarantees” that the funds would be used in other areas, such as the Balkans and North Africa. .
The European Peace Fund, a mechanism created in 2021, is an extra-budgetary instrument designed to improve the EU’s capacity to prevent conflicts, build peace and strengthen international security, and amounts to eight billion euros.
“Hungary does not agree with the fact that the European Union, together with other existing instruments, uses the European Peace Fund only in relation to Ukraine, as this does not allow to direct sufficient funds to promote the interests of the EU in other areas. “, he justified the Hungarian government in a response sent to Reuters after the information first appeared in the press.
Later, Peter Szijarto clarified that Hungary will block the next tranche of EU military aid to Ukraine and any new package of sanctions against Russia, if Kyiv does not remove the Hungarian bank OTP from the list of war sponsors.
Some diplomats expressed their disappointment at Hungary’s move, arguing that the two issues should not be linked, and pointing out that other EU companies are also on Kyiv’s blacklist.
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Source: Hot News
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