China ready to join Hungary for peace in Ukraine: Top diplomat

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - China is ready to work with Hungary to bring “together more forces supporting peace” in Ukraine, the Chinese foreign minister has said.

Wang Yi said Beijing was ready to “join hands with Hungary to bring together more forces supporting peace, make more rational voices, and push the situation toward a political settlement.”

He was speaking to his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto during a phone call on Tuesday, a statement by China’s Foreign Ministry said.

The phone call came in the wake of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s trip to China early this month where he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the two discussed war in Ukraine.

“Currently the most urgent matter and the most realistic goal over the Ukraine crisis are to cool down the tension as soon as possible,” Wang told Szijjarto.

Lauding Hungary for playing a “constructive role in mediating for peace,” Wang said: “All parties (in Ukraine conflict) must reach a consensus as soon as possible on the principles of no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting, and no fanning by any party over the flames, so as to create conditions for a ceasefire and the resumption of peace talks.”

Since assuming the rotating chair of the EU early this month, Orban has visited Russia, Ukraine, and China, and also met with former US President Donald Trump last week.

Trump is ready to act “immediately” as a peace broker in the Russia-Ukraine war if he is elected in November, said Orban.

Orban sent a letter to the heads of other EU countries, briefing them on his recent foreign visits he made that angered other leaders in the 27-member bloc.

His visits to Ukraine, Russia, China, and the US were touted as a “peace mission” aimed at brokering an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, which continues for more than two years.

He also visited Azerbaijan to attend a meeting of the Organization of Turkic States, in which Hungary has observer status.

Hungary, which assumed the six-month rotating EU presidency on July 1, argues that Orban conducted the visits not on behalf of the EU but solely in his capacity as the country's prime minister.