Hungarian Foreign Minister: NATO sending troops to Ukraine would cross the bloc's 'red line'

According to RIA Novosti, speaking on LCI TV channel (France) on May 3, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the presence of European and American troops in Ukraine would mean crossing a "red line".

"If there is the presence of European or American troops in Ukraine, it means that we have crossed the red line drawn by NATO. We have decided to do everything possible to avoid direct confrontation between NATO and Russia. If a NATO member country sends troops to Ukraine, this also means starting a direct conflict with Russia, and World War III breaks out" - Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjarto said.

Regarding the issue of sending troops to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Szijjarto said that Budapest considered French President Macron's statement as a "threat". He warned that if NATO sent troops, the conflict would escalate, and stressed that Hungary, as a neighboring country of Ukraine, was not interested in escalating the conflict.

According to the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, "instead of thinking about supplying new weapons, sending troops or deploying nuclear weapons", NATO needs to "declare a ceasefire and start peace negotiations".

Foreign Minister Szijjarto called on European leaders to work towards peace, rather than seek to intervene in the conflict.

"Our position is that this is not our war. This is not a war in Europe. Europe is not under attack. This is a conflict between two countries, and its escalation is very dangerous," said Foreign Minister Szijjarto.

In Mr. Szijjarto's opinion, any peace initiative should be carried out "with the participation of all relevant parties"; at the same time, it is necessary to maintain communication channels with Russia, because otherwise "the opportunity to achieve peace" will be lost.

Earlier, on May 2, Hungary's Foreign Minister said that Budapest was opposing NATO's five-year, 100 billion euro plan to finance Ukraine in its conflict with Russia./.