The war in Ukraine was once again the main item on the agenda, and according to the assessment of the situation, there is a big problem, and there could be a much bigger problem than now in a short period of time, with a high risk of further escalation, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told a press briefing following the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. He pointed out that winter is approaching and much of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed. He also noted that a growing number of companies increasingly tend to circumvent the sanctions by resuming their activities, with the involvement of third countries.
So the problem is big, and it could easily get even bigger, because battlefield reports indicate that the fighting is intensifying and likely to escalate. Winter is coming, which can be tough, and the evasion of the sanctions is on the rise,
the minister warned.
"There is consensus that this is bad. In fact, there is consensus that this is very bad. The question is what follows from this," he said.
There is a pro-war approach and a pro-peace approach. There are several major differences between the two, but one glaring difference is that we have tried one of them for a thousand days and proved unsuccessful. That's the pro-war approach. And there is the other approach that has not yet been allowed to be put to the test, and that is the pro-peace approach,
he added. "Therefore, we believe that after nearly a thousand days of failure, it is time to replace the pro-war approach with the pro-peace approach," he continued. Peter Szijjarto criticized Brussels' pro-war position, the push for further arms supplies and new punitive measures, as well as for allowing the use of the delivered weapons against Russian targets.
He condemned the attempts to eliminate unanimity on a number of issues and to silence pro-peace voices, instead of finally facing up to the fact that after nearly a thousand days, the pro-war approach has failed.
"There are some who speak of pro-peace forces as if they posed the danger. Some argue that it would not be good to start peace talks now because Ukraine is not doing well. Well, if Ukraine is not doing well, doesn't that prove the same thing as we keep saying," he said. Responding to a journalist's question regarding Donald Trump's recent statement, the Hungarian foreign minister stressed that the former US president is certainly right that the risk of escalation in Ukraine, that is, a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, is increasing with every passing minute, hour and day. "We will continue to uphold the position that bringing an end to the war in Ukraine as soon as possible is our best chance of avoiding a third world war," he underlined.
Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (Photo: Facebook/Peter Szijjarto)
