BUDAPEST, October 17. /TASS/. Hungary will keep channels of communication with Russia open, including for the sake of finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday.

"Ukraine has been at war for more than 18 months. We, the Hungarians, want an immediate ceasefire and peace talks because this is the only way to save people’s lives. The longer this war continues the more people will die. However, the solution lies not on the battlefield, but at the negotiating table. That’s why we must keep the lines of communication open, because to abandon them would mean to give up on any hope for peace," he wrote on his Facebook account (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist) after talks between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing.

The top Hungarian diplomat was present at the talks between Putin and Orban, who arrived in Beijing to attend the Belt and the Road international forum.

According to Orban’s spokesman Bertalan Havasi, the Hungarian prime minister called for ending the armed conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible. "During the meeting, Viktor Orban stressed the importance of peace. He said that it is extremely important for the entire [European] continent, including Hungary, to stop the outflow of refugees, sanctions and hostilities [in Ukraine]," the MTI news agency quoted him as saying.

Hungary’s government has repeatedly said that it supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and condemns Russia’s actions, thus being in keeping with the European Union’s consolidated position. However, Hungary refused to supply weapons to Ukraine and did not let other countries ship weapons across its territory. Since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, Budapest has called for settling it peacefully at the negotiating table.