BUDAPEST, May 15. /TASS/. Budapest hopes that Western European politicians who prevented Russia and Ukraine from concluding an agreement three years ago, this time will not interfere with the Istanbul talks, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said, commenting on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.
"In 2022 in Istanbul, Ukraine and Russia almost reached an agreement after two months of combat, however, politicians derailed the war-ending efforts then and afterwards were attacking us over the past three years because we stood for peace and a ceasefire. Had these Western European politicians not prevented the conclusion of the Russian-Ukrainian agreement then, there would have been much fewer fatalities on the battlefield," the top Hungarian diplomat said in a video address aired by the M1 TV channel.
According to Szijjarto, "those who at the time hindered the success of peace talks, bear serious responsibility for it." "This is why we are urging Brussels, European countries and their leaders not to block the success of the Russian-Ukrainian peace talks," he noted.
The Hungarian foreign minister expressed hope that Russia and Ukraine will hold talks in Istanbul. "We hope that both the Russians and Ukrainians will display sober-mindedness and openness in order to ensure that direct talks between them can indeed resume in Turkey or elsewhere in the world," he emphasized.