Hungary draws red line: firmly opposes sending EU military advisers to Ukraine

Hungary stands firmly against “the extremely dangerous proposal” to send EU military advisers to Ukraine, Péter Szijjártó said on Monday in Luxembourg.

Not to help Ukraine

This is a Hungarian red line, he told a press conference after a meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council, adding that pressure to expand the mandate of the EU military training mission in Ukraine was strong.

“When the European Union started training Ukrainian soldiers, we constructively abstained, signalling our disagreement,” he said, arguing the plan was “dangerous” in view of the risk of escalation and deepening the conflict between the EU and Russia. He noted that Hungary had not prevented others doing so, however.

“But now they are calling for the European Union to delegate military advisers to Kyiv as part of this operation. Well, this goes beyond [our] red lines,” he said.

related article: Hungarian Foreign Minister says Russia’s 2021 security proposals to end Hungary’s NATO membership acceptable? Ria Novosti interview and denial – VIDEO

Now is the time for a pro-peace outlook to replace pro-war policy

The time has come to pursue a pro-peace policy instead of a pro-war approach, now that there is a general recognition in Brussels that Ukraine is beset by problems such as the risk of further escalation, the approaching winter and sanctions evasions, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, told a press conference after a meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Monday.

Szijjártó said much of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure had been destroyed as winter approached, more and more European companies were evading sanctions with the help of third countries, and fighting on the frontline was intensifying.

He said the pro-war approach had been tried for “a thousand days” and had failed, and now the pro-peace approach should be given a chance to succeed.

Brussels, meanwhile, wanted additional weapons shipments and new punitive measures. It even advocated using Western weapons against targets in Russia, he added.

Szijjártó decried those who saw champions of peace as a threat.

“Some argue that starting peace negotiations now would not be good when Ukraine is not doing well. Well, if Ukraine isn’t doing well, doesn’t this prove what we [advocate]?”

Meanwhile, asked about recent remarks made by Donald Trump concerning risk of escalation in Ukraine, he said the former president had been “absolutely right” that a confrontation between NATO and Russia was “growing every hour and minute of the day”.