Ukraine risk

Western troops in Ukraine risk ‘world war,’ Hungary’s top diplomat says

“The terrifying risk of a third world war is approaching,” Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in an interview with Russia’s TASS.

BY CLAUDIA CHIAPPA

Sending NATO troops to Ukraine would be “really dangerous” and would “bring the risk of a world war closer,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in an interview with Russian state media.

“The terrifying risk of a third world war is approaching,” Szijjártó, who was on a trip to Russia for the Atomexpo forum, told Russian state-run news agency TASS in an interview published Wednesday. “Therefore, we will always call on all our allies and colleagues to refrain from any actions or statements that could bring the risk of a world war closer.”

Budapest has stuck more closely with Moscow than any other European Union or NATO member, with Hungary repeatedly opposing sending more money and weapons to Kyiv.

Szijjártó’s remarks come after French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that Western ground troops in Ukraine should not be “ruled out.” The comments sparked panic and were the target of immediate pushback from most NATO allies — though not all European leaders condemned his message.

Szijjártó — who had already said Hungary was “not willing to send either weapons or soldiers to Ukraine” — told TASS that “words matter.”

“When it comes to the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine on behalf of some NATO member states, it’s really dangerous, because we don’t want to face a threat,” he said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán maintained contact with Russia President Vladimir Putin after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago — even congratulating Putin on winning last month’s elections, which were widely viewed as rigged by most Western democracies.

Szijjártó said Hungary keeps its channels of communications with Russia open, adding that Putin and Orbán can “hold talks at any time” if “there is a need to interact with each other.”