EU should “take advantage” of UN General Assembly to meet Russian Foreign Minister

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who is in New York, is scheduled to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations (UN) General Assembly, which will take place from September 19-26.

In a video posted on Facebook on September 18, Mr. Szijjarto advised European colleagues to take advantage of the event to contact the Russian diplomat.

He called on EU politicians to “show wisdom” and use the General Assembly as a platform for dialogue “between opposing sides,” noting that it was necessary to keep communication channels open with Moscow, including to discuss ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

“Of course, I myself will meet with my colleague, the Russian Foreign Minister,” Szijjarto said, clarifying that the meeting was scheduled for the second half of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week.

“I think it is better if more of my Western European colleagues do the same,” the Hungarian foreign minister said.

“This week must be used to bring peace to Ukraine. Russians, Ukrainians, Americans, French will all be here. Everyone will have the opportunity to talk to each other,” Hungary’s top diplomat said.

World - Hungary: EU should — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto hold talks on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly in New York, September 22, 2022. The top Hungarian diplomat is expected to have a similar meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov on the sidelines of the high-level event in 2023. Photo: Mid.ru

Mr. Szijjarto said he believes that “the UN was not created to unite like-minded people, because there are other organizations that do that, such as NATO or the European Union (EU).”

“The UN was created so that parties – even those in conflict – could at least talk to each other, because then there would be hope of some sort of solution and the situation would at least not get worse.”

He also stated that the situation in the field of international security is at its most alarming level since World War II, when “50 armed conflicts are raging” across different regions of the world.

Foreign Minister Szijjarto said the events in Ukraine have brought humanity closer than ever to World War III. In an interview with CNBC last week, Szijjarto said the EU should have “isolated” the conflict in Ukraine.

“The EU should have isolated this war in Ukraine, but instead it globalized it,” Hungary’s foreign minister said, criticizing Europe’s response to the conflict, saying it was driving a wedge between East and West.

“One of the global effects of the war is that the world seems to be divided into blocs again and this is bad because without communication between nations, without cooperation between nations, you basically give up hope for peace,” he said .

Minh Duc (According to TASS, CNBC)

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