Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the belief that talks between Russia and Ukraine can end the war between the two countries is a “naive illusion”, adding that US-Russia talks were needed to end the conflict.
In order for such talks to take place, however, it would be important for the leaders of the United States and Russia to meet at the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia, the foreign ministry cited Szijjártó as saying ahead of a meeting between the foreign ministers of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Buenos Aires. “If they’re already in the same place, I think it would be very hard to explain to anyone on Earth why they weren’t meeting with each other,” Szijjártó said. “We understand that protocol is important, we understand that it’s important for everyone to make themselves seem strong, stronger than the other. But there are hundreds of thousands dying, millions fleeing, the whole world has been thrust into crisis and this regional war … must be prevented from escalating into a world war.” Though the conflict in Ukraine is a regional one, it has serious negative effects on the whole world, the minister said.
“The world’s energy supply is in crisis, as is the food supply of many areas,” Szijjártó said. “Inflation is sky-high all over the world, economies are sliding into recession and millions of jobs are at risk.” The entire world’s interest lies in ending this war as soon as possible, Szijjártó said. “However, we are concerned to see that certain big and powerful countries, certain large and strong international organisations constantly engage in war rhetoric,” he said. “And their remarks and decisions are pushing this war more towards escalation than towards peace.”
“It’s time for the major international players … to make decisions that promote peace rather than escalation,” Szijjártó said, urging international players to refrain from making decisions that would further aggravate the situation. Szijjártó is scheduled to hold talks with his Argentine, Costa Rican, Ecuadorian, Guatemalan, Jamaican, Colombian, Nicaraguan and Panamanian counterparts on the sidelines of the EU-CELAC meeting.