Hungary's FM urges NATO to not get directly involved in conflict with Russia amid war

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto urged NATO to make an effort to not turn the Russia-Ukraine war into a NATO-Moscow conflict. According to the Russian news outlet, Tass, a diplomat asserted that the Western alliance should make all efforts to stay out of direct involvement in armed conflict with Russia. This is not the first time Szijjarto has warned about the direct conflict between Russia and the Western alliance. The tensions between the two nations have escalated even more after two drones attacked the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

"We must do everything to ensure that NATO does not become part of the conflict and does not come into direct conflict with the Russian Federation,” the Hungarian Foreign Minister told CNN. "We insist on this decision, and I hope it will be respected in the future. Otherwise, if NATO were to drift into this conflict, it would carry the risk of the outbreak of World War III," the top diplomat added. Szijjarto made similar assertions in March and also expressed his concerns over excessively arming Ukraine amid the war. 

‘Direct confrontation might lead to WWIII’: Szijjarto

Szijjarto made similar assertions in March when NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg was visiting Brussels. "According to the current arrangement, NATO is not engaged in the war in our vicinity. This is how it is now. A direct conflict between NATO and Russia would lead to another world war," Szijjarto wrote on Facebook. The Hungarian government has maintained a conservative stance amid the war. Earlier, the Hungarian government said after the start of the conflict in Ukraine that it would not send weapons to Kyiv. In March, he reiterated that Hungary refused to participate in the joint funding of ammunition supplies to the Ukrainian army.