FM Szijjártó continues peace mission: he negotiated with Lavrov in Malta

Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, had talks with his Russian and Vatican counterparts on Thursday on the sidelines of the OSCE foreign ministers’ council meeting in Valletta.

After talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Szijjártó pledged to continue pursuing the “Hungarian peace mission”, saying the war in Ukraine may be closer than ever in light of the US presidential election, yet the risk of escalation was now at its peak.

To ensure that peace remains viable by January 20, “everything must be done now to keep the channels of communication open,” he said in a Facebook post, adding that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe was the “last suitable forum” for this.

Instead of encouraging Ukraine to lower the conscription age, “we should work towards a ceasefire and peace,” he added.

In July, PM Viktor Orbán went on a ‘peace mission’ to Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing and Mar-a-Lago after he took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. He got criticism that he did not have authorization to make such a move. Later, it became clear that he informed NATO and EU allies about his plans beforehand. Orbán has been communicating about anti-peace and pro-peace blocks ever since.

Meanwhile, referring to a meeting with Paul Richard Gallagher, his Vatican counterpart, Szijjártó said Hungary highly valued the Holy See’s “wise, pro-peace” position.

He said they were in agreement that striving for peace was “not a sign of weakness but of courage”. “Archbishop Gallagher encouraged us to pursue our efforts to save lives, establish peace and keep the channels of communication open,” he said.

Szijjártó added that Christian communities around the world were being persecuted, “and this must be stopped”. He said the atrocities against Christians in Aleppo were especially worrying.

“Hungary will carry on providing humanitarian aid with a view to protecting Christian communities facing hardships,” he said.

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