Hungary provokes NATO allies over Ukraine strategy

The Hungarian government has accused its NATO partners of double standards and failure in dealing with Russia's war against Ukraine, causing a stir at the end of a NATO summit in Washington on Thursday.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Hungary would continue to advocate for dialogue and diplomatic channels, a Szijjártó spokesman said.

The minister argued that the current strategy of the past two and a half years had been a total failure.

At the end of the NATO summit, Szijjártó represented Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who had left Washington early to meet former US president Donald Trump in Florida.

Szijjártó criticized NATO's inconsistent approach, pointing out that Israel was being encouraged to negotiate with Hamas while diplomatic channels remained closed in the Ukraine conflict.

He also objected to the pressure on EU countries like Hungary to end nuclear cooperation with Russia, while trade between the United States and Russia, particularly in the uranium sector, was increasing. He also raised the question of whether secret negotiations might be happening behind the scenes.

Regarding Ukraine's desire to join NATO, Szijjártó said that from a Hungarian perspective, Ukraine's NATO membership could weaken the alliance and it was important to carefully examine such a membership.

After the summit, participants said that Hungary had been isolated during the discussion. Several allies had also clearly expressed their disagreement with the Hungarian foreign minister's statements.