Hungary announced its readiness to host negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv

Budapest is ready to act as a mediator and host negotiations between Russia and Ukraine if the dialogue is resumed, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Peter Szijjártó told RIA Novosti.

“You can only mediate if both parties want it. So it doesn’t depend on us,” said Szijjártó, adding that if such a request is received, Hungary will respond positively.

He told how at the beginning of the conflict he proposed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration Andrei Ermak to organize negotiations between the parties in Hungary. He called the Republic an “unbiased, impartial safe place” that guarantees all parties a “level playing field” and security. This proposal is still relevant, he added.

Peace in Ukraine can be achieved by sitting down at the negotiating table, stated earlier this week Szijjarto. The minister recalled that Hungary is a neighbor of Ukraine and has accepted more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees. In addition, there is a Hungarian national minority living in Ukraine, and in order for these and all other people to stop dying, it is necessary to end the fighting.

On October 18, during negotiations with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that Moscow is ready for negotiations, but recalled that in Ukraine there is a decree of the country’s President Vladimir Zelensky prohibiting negotiations with Moscow. In this regard, the Russian president noted that if Kiev wants a negotiation process, it is necessary not to limit itself to “some theatrical gestures,” but first of all to cancel the decree prohibiting negotiations.

In August, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak, said that “there can be no negotiation process in the current disposition.” According to him, a ceasefire and freezing of the conflict in Ukraine in the current balance of power will mean a victory for Russia. In Kyiv also predicted a difficult autumn, as calls are increasingly heard around the world to begin a negotiation process to end the conflict with Moscow.