As long as the hostilities continue, the conflict could spill over, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said
Ending the Ukraine conflict would entirely diffuse the risk of escalation between NATO and Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview with TASS on Monday.
Moscow has long characterized the conflict as a proxy war led by the US-led military bloc against Russia using Ukrainian manpower.
Speaking to the Russian news agency on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Szijjarto suggested peace in Ukraine as a way to prevent a dangerous escalation between Russia and NATO.
“If there is peace, if this [Ukraine] war ends, then we can reduce the risk of escalation to zero. But as long as this war continues, I fear that events will occur that carry the risk of escalation, and that is truly bad news,” he said.
Earlier this month, the top diplomat said that Ukraine and the EU were attempting to “drag” Hungary into the conflict. Despite pressure from Brussels, Budapest has resisted providing military support to Kiev and opposed the bloc’s sanctions against Russia, instead calling for a diplomatic solution.
In recent weeks, EU and NATO members Poland and Estonia have both accused Russia of violating their airspace – claims Moscow has denied as baseless.
In response to Russian drones allegedly crossing into Polish territory earlier this month, NATO launched its Eastern Sentry operation to increase the US-led military bloc’s presence near its eastward flank.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that the drone allegations were fabricated for the purpose of derailing the Ukraine peace talks. Russia has long accused European NATO members of working to prolong and escalate the conflict.
According to Moscow, the US-led military bloc is already “de facto” fighting a war against Russia.
“NATO provides both indirect and direct support to the Kiev regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week. Despite this, Moscow remains “ready and willing” to work towards diplomatically settling the Ukraine crisis, he added.
