Hungary FM: Good US-Russia Relations Always Benefit Global Security

The improvement of relations between the US and Russia is welcome news, said Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto in New York, reacting to the start of direct consultations between the two powers. Hungary's foreign minister also spoke about attacks on Hungary and China's role in the peace process.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto speaks during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, with Ambassador Zsuzsanna Horvath, Hungary's Permanent Representative to the UN in attendance, in New York on February 18, 2025 (Photo: MTI)

Hungary was right all along

Peter Szijjarto emphasized that the US presidential election brought significant changes, including a pro-peace president, which increased the chances for resolving the Ukrainian conflict. He welcomed the high-level, direct consultations between US and Russian officials that took place during the day.

We have supported keeping communication channels open, seeking diplomatic solutions, and maintaining relations with the Russian Federation for the past three years. We faced massive attacks for this stance in international politics. We said that solutions would not be reached on the battlefield, where only destruction exists. Only negotiations can bring peace,

he recalled.

What is happening now shows that we were right,

he added.

We wish the United States and the Russian Federation all the best in their direct negotiations. We hope today’s meeting was successful, and we hope for a successful summit soon. Good US-Russia relations are good news for the world. We are ready for the new era of global politics and ready to do our part to make the world a better place again,

he concluded. 
Peter Szijjarto also noted that the UN must adapt to the new global political realities or risk losing relevance.

The leaders must leave their comfort zones and ivory towers and come up with innovative reform proposals to reduce overlapping functions, eliminate unnecessary functions, cut costs, and increase efficiency,

he pointed out. He announced that Hungary is ready to host additional UN organisations. 

China's role in promoting peace

Speaking about his talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Peter Szijjarto stressed China’s efforts to keep the cause of peace alive despite difficulties over the past few years.

China deserves gratitude for keeping the cause of peace alive under incredibly difficult circumstances, which is why it’s essential to maintain cooperation with the East Asian nation. Hungary has benefited greatly from this cooperation over the past few years,

he said, emphasizing Hungary’s gains from working with China.

And we would have lost much had we not cooperated with China. If we had yielded to the liberal mainstream whose governors can be found also in Hungary, and who continually pressed for cutting cooperation with China, cutting European-China relations, saying that cooperation with China was not correct. Had we listened to them, we would have lost very many opportunities and very many serious economic achievements,

he underlined. He highlighted that Chinese companies brought to Hungary the most investments in 2020, 2023 and 2024, and during the past ten years some 54 large investment projects have arrived from China at a total value of over 17 billion euros, creating some 40 thousand jobs.

These investments have enabled Hungary to become a leader in the global car industry revolution which has been unprecedented for a long time.

Peter Szijjarto said China is the number two import source for Hungary, and trade turnover has been above 10 billion dollars annually for several years in a row.

China has done a great deal for peace, Hungary's FM says 
(Photo: MTI)

He also said that for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, last year the number of guest nights by Chinese tourists returned to above half a million, with 21 regular flights between Budapest and seven Chinese cities each week. He added that Hungary was the biggest central European food exporter to China.

Hungary being a landlocked, small- or medium-sized nation with few energy resources, deep integration in international trade is a key issue for our economic performance. Thus, ensuring that global trade  can function smoothly is crucial,

he warned.

Dividing the world into blocs is against our interests. Connectivity and global economic cooperation based on mutual respect fall in line with our interests, which is why we cooperate with China,

he added. The minister criticized Europe’s liberal mainstream for what he called "suicidal policies," which caused harm to the continent’s economy, citing as an example tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles strongly opposed also by major car manufacturers.

Hungary has become a meeting point of eastern and western investments, and has greatly benefited from cooperation with China.  As a result, we have a vested interest in not only Hungarian-Chinese cooperation to survive but also in cooperation between China and the European Union to return to normal. Trade cooperation should not be about the formation of blocs and an economic cold war, but about effective cooperation based on respect,

Hungary's minister of foreign affairs and trade concluded.

Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto speaks during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, with Ambassador Zsuzsanna Horvath, Hungary's Permanent Representative to the UN in attendance, in New York on February 18, 2025 (Photo: MTI)