Use of Western Weapons against Russia Risks Escalation, Foreign Minister Warns

Ukraine’s demand that weapons supplied by the allies could be used for strikes on Russian territory would pose a serious escalation risk, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stressed in New York.

The minister, reacting to a recent statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that the past thousand days of war have proven that there is no solution to the conflict on the battlefield and that the arms transfers have only led to an increase in casualties, not to peace.

“So, when President Zelenskyy talks about the war ending sooner than we think, he is unfortunately not talking about a negotiated solution, as has been proven many times in the past, but he is still calling for battlefield solutions,” he pointed out.

He called the Ukrainian demand to strike Russian territory with weapons supplied by the allies a very dangerous proposal.

“I think it is not too difficult to see that if Ukraine were to be allowed to do this, it would carry an extremely serious risk of escalation,” he stressed. In the minister’s words, the war could easily spread, and this would be a threat to neighboring countries first.

“Thus, from the Hungarian point of view, and I think from the point of view of global security, it would be extremely dangerous if Western weapons could be used by the Ukrainians could strike Russian targets with Western weapons,” he noted.

He welcomed the fact that there are still “sober voices, sober discernment” in some Western states, which is why the permission has not been granted so far.

There is no solution to this war on the battlefield, the only solution would be at the negotiating table: a ceasefire and peace talks,”

the politician underlined. “That is what we are calling for here this week at the UN, and we are in the majority, hence this is not the EU, this is not the transatlantic community, the pro-peace people are in a massive majority here. The overwhelming majority of UN member states are calling for peace talks and an early end to the war, and we are part of that global majority,” he added.

Mr Szijjártó underlined that the war in Ukraine will also be on the agenda of the open session of the UN Security Council (UNSC), and that a serious debate is expected, as all parties will be represented at a high level.

“I would be very happy if they would listen to each other, i.e. it would not happen as it has happened in the past at such multilateral events (…) that when the other side spoke, the opposing side was not there”, he added.

“I really hope that today they will use the framework of the UN and the framework of the Security Council, because here we must always remember that the UN was created to discuss all issues, to allow everyone to talk to everyone.

In addition, it is already known, that here will be no separate meeting between Péter Szijjártó and his Ukrainian counterpart this time,

as the Ukrainian politician will arrive in Budapest next week.

The law concerning the Hungarian minority in Ukraine is a key topic on the agenda, the Hungarian foreign minister confirmed.

Bilateral meetings are also scheduled with the Hungarian politician’s Chinese counterpart and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York.

Via MTI, Index; Featured image via Pixabay