In order for such talks to take place, however, it would be important for the leaders of the United States and Russia to meet at the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia, the foreign ministry cited Szijjártó as saying ahead of a meeting between the foreign ministers of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Buenos Aires.

“If they’re already in the same place, I think it would be very hard to explain to anyone on Earth why they weren’t meeting with each other,” Szijjártó said.

“We understand that protocol is important, we understand that it’s important for everyone to make themselves seem strong, stronger than the other. But there are hundreds of thousands dying, millions fleeing, the whole world has been thrust into crisis and this regional war … must be prevented from escalating into a world war.”

Though the conflict in Ukraine is a regional one, it has serious negative effects for the whole world, the minister said.

“The world’s energy supply is in crisis, as is the food supply of many areas,” Szijjártó said. “Inflation is sky-high all over the world, economies are sliding into recession and millions of jobs are at risk.” The entire world’s interest lies in ending this war as soon as possible, Szijjártó said.

“However, we are concerned to see that certain big and powerful countries, certain large and strong international organisations constantly engage in war rhetoric,” he said. “And their remarks and decisions are pushing this war more towards escalation than towards peace.”

“It’s time for the major international players … to make decisions that promote peace rather than escalation,” Szijjártó said, urging international players to refrain from making decisions that would further aggravate the situation.

Szijjártó is scheduled to hold talks with his Argentine, Costa Rican, Ecuadorian, Guatemalan, Jamaican, Colombian, Nicaraguan and Panamanian counterparts on the sidelines of the EU-CELAC meeting.

Szijjártó: No Hope for Peace Without East-West Dialogue

The world will give up even the hope for peace if communication between the west and Russia becomes impossible, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said at a roundtable organised by the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

The foreign ministry quoted Szijjártó as saying that “when the Hungarian government argued for keeping channels for communication open, it was instantly labelled as pro-Russia or an ally for Russian President Vladimir Putin”.

The European Union has “totally mismanaged” the Ukraine crisis, he insisted, and said that while the EU’s sanctions had been expected to help end the war quickly back in February “it is now November and the armed conflict is getting more brutal and the European economy is on its knees”.

Szijjártó said the US administration’s moves could contribute to an escalation of the situation. The Hungarian government has an interest in keeping communications channels open, in the interest of peace.

Its policies are “neither pro-Ukraine or pro-Russia”, they are exclusively determined by Hungary’s interests, Szijjártó said.