Hungary calls for immediate peace in Ukraine – FM Szijjártó

Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó called for an immediate end to the war in Ukraine during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha in Budapest, the official's Facebook page reported on September 30.

"Hungary is part of the global majority calling for immediate peace in Ukraine. We have confirmed this repeatedly during the UN General Assembly last week," Szijjártó wrote on his Facebook page.

He noted that Hungary seeks "good-neighborly relations" with Ukraine but also cited a Hungarian proverb that "there are two sides to justice." Szijjártó reminded that Sybiha's visit is the first by a Ukrainian foreign minister to Hungary in four and a half years.

The meeting between Sybiha and Szijjártó lasted twice as long as planned—about an hour instead of 30 minutes, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After the one-on-one discussion, talks continued in an expanded format with delegations.

The visit of the Ukrainian foreign minister to Hungary was announced on September 30. It was planned that Sybiha and Szijjártó would discuss bilateral relations, as well as Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO.

On September 6, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that for the war in Ukraine to end, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On September 13, Orban said the war in Ukraine would not end on the battlefield and promised "unexpected initiatives."

On September 10, Szijjártó announced that Hungary would allocate 14 million euros from its Peace Fund not to Ukraine, but to the country of Chad.

On September 28, the European Union condemned Hungary's decision to join China's Friends of the World initiative, where a so-called peace plan for Ukraine is planned to be discussed.