Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Thursday urged “superpowers” to start peace talks in Ukraine instead of sending more weapons to prolong the conflict.
“We do believe that instead of deploying more and more weapons, now, we should start to concentrate on establishing a ceasefire and launch peace talks… So, I humbly ask the representatives of big and strong countries, the representatives of so-called superpowers to sit around a negotiating table and negotiate about how peace could be created in our neighborhood instead of prolonging the war,” he said delivering a speech at the UN Security Council.
Hungary and its people are paying a great price in this conflict, Szijjarto said, stressing that Hungarians living in Zakarpattia and drafted into the Ukrainian army are also dying in the fighting.
Hungary itself has been feeling negative economic consequences of the conflict, he added.
The minister further noted that the war rhetoric was sounding very loud, while the peaceful rhetoric was almost inaudible, and urged the powers to change this.
In March 2022, the Hungarian Parliament issued a decree prohibiting the supply of weapons to Ukraine through the country’s territory. Szijjarto explained that Budapest sought to protect Hungarian-populated districts of the Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine, since this region would become a legitimate military target if weapons were delivered there.
