Dmytro Kuleba (Photo: EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO)

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba discussed the logic of Vladimir Putin and possible negotiations with Russia with his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó, he said in an interview with Ukrinform.

The Ukrainian side explained to Szijjártó why there is no point in negotiations with Russia today.

He noted that the chief of Hungarian diplomacy explained why his country maintains contacts with the Russians and how he sees the way to peace. The issue of the meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also raised.

"I was worried all this time that the phrase kept coming from the Hungarians: Return all rights to the Hungarian minority. I asked a colleague if we could get a comprehensive list of what needs to be returned? A list of 11 points was voiced. Most of them are very specific educational things, many of which are based on less fundamental obstacles than mistrust of Ukraine due to what they consider unfair actions against the Hungarian minority," said Kuleba.

The diplomat stressed that talks with Hungary need to continue in order to remove mistrust.

"Then it becomes clear that there are much fewer obstacles than it seemed. It is precisely for this purpose that a special commission was created, which will carefully deal with all concerns," the Ukrainian official concluded.

On January 29, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary and his team arrived in Uzhhorod for negotiations that lasted more than six hours.

During the briefing after the meeting in Uzhhorod, in particular, Szijjártó avoided a direct answer to the question whether Hungary is ready to change its position on this issue, noting that "this is not a bilateral issue."

Also, Hungary's top diplomat stated that Budapest formulated an 11-point request to Ukraine regarding the rights of national minorities. In particular, the country asks Kyiv to reinstate the rights of its national minority, which it enjoyed until 2015.