Szijjártó: military support for Ukraine a failure, NATO must rethink strategy

NATO member states should rethink their failed strategy regarding Ukraine, but the vast majority of the allies aren’t open to this despite the failures of the past year and a half, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference in Brussels on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

Szijjártó reported that several of his colleagues stressed the need to continue providing aid to Ukraine, with some even talking about stepping up assistance and increasing the role of the military alliance. In contrast, Szijjártó reiterated the Hungarian position held for more than a year, namely that "everything must be done to ensure that NATO is not part of the conflict and everything must be done to avoid a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia".

Szijjártó was the only one at the meeting to raise the point that in light of the recent developments, the North Atlantic Alliance should reconsider its strategy and look at how it could be modified going forward. He said that in the Hungarian government's view, the plans built on the substantial support provided so far have not yielded results.

According to the Foreign Minister, this plan was based on the assumption that Ukraine would win a military victory and Russia would be defeated, which would then have political consequences in Russia. "I believe that by now everybody sees – even if they do not admit it – that this plan has failed".

"The objectives and hopes attached to the Ukrainian counter-offensive have been shattered, since there has been no major change on the battlefield, no breakthrough at all following its launch. By the way, several people here have admitted this, albeit quietly, fearfully, but they have admitted it", the Foreign Minister said. Szijjártó stressed that only two of them, he and the Turkish Foreign Minister, had expressed their preference for a diplomatic solution, while there was no sign of any openness to this from the others.

According to Szijjártó, the prevailing mood among the leaders of NATO member states is still that of war, and the word "peace" practically wasn’t even mentioned at the meeting, whereas by now everyone should admit that there can be no solution on the battlefield, as that place is filled with death and destruction alone.

Szijjártó noted that there is a consensus about Ukraine's accession to NATO being unthinkable at the moment, as it would run the risk of triggering a third world war.

András Rácz, a lecturer at Corvinus University in Budapest recently told Telex that while the Ukrainian counter-offensive clearly failed to achieve its objectives, the attack is not a total failure because it did inflict very heavy losses on the Russians.

The Hungarian State News Agency's (MTI) release sent by the Foreign Ministry does not mention the question of Sweden's NATO membership, which remains blocked only by Hungary and Turkey. Along with Finland, Sweden submitted its application for membership in the alliance last year, but the Hungarian government has been delaying the decision citing a variety of reasons. At this point, it is not even known when the parliament might vote on the subject.