BUDAPEST, May 18. /TASS/. Hungary will support any peace plans and initiatives for Ukraine that could lead to a settlement of the ongoing armed conflict in that country, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told journalists on Thursday.

"No one knows which peace plan will succeed, so Hungary supports all initiatives and is ready to assist those who seek peace, either as a mediator or as a platform for ceasefire negotiations," the prime minister was quoted as saying by the MTI news agency.

Taking the first step is crucial, because if it is not taken, it will be impossible to achieve peace, Orban said during a break at a meeting of the executive committee of the Centrist Democrat International (CDI) held in Bled, Slovenia. Orban is vice president of the CDI, a major association of Christian Democratic political parties.

The Hungarian government previously expressed support for China's peace proposals announced in February, as well as for the Vatican's peace mission, which Pope Francis alluded to after his visit to Budapest in late April. In addition, there is the peace initiative proposed by a number of African countries, whose representatives have said they are ready to visit Moscow and Kiev in the coming days.

Speaking to journalists in Slovenia, Orban also noted that Hungary has a different perspective on the armed conflict in Ukraine compared with other countries, since it takes place in a neighboring state and ethnic Hungarians live in Transcarpathia, many of whom have died on the battlefield.