Every effort must be made to avoid a direct armed conflict between NATO and Russia, says Hungarian FM in Bucharest

Every effort must be made to avoid a direct armed conflict between NATO and Russia because an escalation of hostilities could affect territories in the immediate neighbourhood, the Hungarian foreign minister said in Bucharest where he attended a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, on Tuesday.

The focus must be on peace taking also into consideration that winter is coming, the foreign ministry quoted Péter Szijjártó as saying.

Szijjártó praised Poland for its calm stance in connection with the missile attack hitting Polish territory earlier this month. “It is to thank to the highly responsible behaviour of the leaders of Poland that we here today are not discussing developments of a third world war,” he said.

The minister warned of the possibility of escalation of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine as long as the conflict continues. Hungary, as a neighbour of Ukraine, is fully aware of the possible consequences, Szijjártó said, asserting that this is why the country has a vested interest in peace. He said it was clear that an escalation of the war would in the first place impact territories in the most immediate neighbourhood and not those countries that are thousands kilometres away. Szijjártó welcomed the NATO Secretary General’s statement that the North Atlantic alliance is not party to the conflict, and expressed hope that this situation would remain unchanged.

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Szijjártó said that “a terrible and tragic humanitarian catastrophe unseen before” could unfold as winter sets in on the continent.