BUDAPEST, August 17. /TASS/. Two Hungarian NGOs urged the European Union on Thursday to stop providing Kiev with arms and launch peace talks with Moscow.
"We, the citizens of Hungary and the European Union, demand that the West reconsider its policy of refusing to meet Russia’s legitimate security demands, as it advocates only for sending weapons to Kiev, stop arms supplies, which equate to fueling the war, and commence substantive, serious talks with the Russians," the Hungarian Community for Peace (HCP, or Magyar Bekekor in Hungarian) said in a joint address to the government of Hungary and the European Commission (EC) jointly with the Forum for Peace civic movement.
According to the statement posted on the HCP’s website, "Russia cannot be defeated militarily or brought to its knees by means of sanctions!" While the EC is seeking to double its military aid to Ukraine later this year by establishing a 50 billion euro fund, this is not a solution, the petition reads. "More weapons or additional military support will only lead to more losses, cripple Ukraine even further and cause an escalation," the petitioners emphasized.
In the petition, they "condemn the Kiev regime and its allies who have so far sacrificed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian lives and made life impossible for millions of other people instead of allowing them to live in peace and maintain friendly relations both with Russia and the West." They insisted that people in the EU were not seeking to continue the war and therefore plunge the EU into recession, but favored normal cooperation both with Russia and Ukraine instead.
In the petition, the two NGOs called for a ceasefire and Russia-Ukraine peace talks that would involve other countries that have supported the conflicting parties. "We need a peace that would prevent Ukraine from remaining hostile to Russia and eradicate a permanent tension spot in Europe stemming from its anti-Russian stance. Europe and the entire world are seeking to have a neutral Ukraine," the NGOs said.
The Forum for Peace civic movement is a coalition of 10 political and social organizations that favor ending the Ukraine conflict as soon as possible and bringing relations with Russia back to normal. The Hungarian Community for Peace, led by its president Endre Simo, pursues similar goals.