EU fails to reach agreement on unblocking peace fund for Ukraine

The foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) have failed to agree on unblocking the European Peace Fund for Ukraine. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said this after a meeting of the EU Council in Brussels on 18 November.

He specified that Hungary once again vetoed the decision.

"Unfortunately, it (the European Peace Fund. - Ed.) is still blocked by the Hungarian side," Sikorski said, as quoted by TASS.

Earlier in the day, European Union (EU) diplomatic chief Josep Borrel admitted that he was unable to unblock arms supplies to Ukraine through the European Peace Fund. It was specified that he made promises that by the end of his mandate through the European Peace Facility he would be able to unblock arms deliveries worth more than €5bn, which Hungary has been blocking for more than a year.

Before that, on 29 October, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that the leaders of Western states realize that they have chosen the wrong strategy towards Ukraine. The Hungarian diplomat explained that the strategy of the Western countries, which implies supplying Ukraine with more weapons and sanctions against Russia, has not shown its effectiveness. In the opinion of the Hungarian diplomat, a peaceful settlement of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine is necessary.

A day earlier, on 28 October, Szijjártó accused Brussels of globalizing the conflict in Ukraine instead of looking for ways to resolve it. The Hungarian government spokesman is sure that the globalization of the Ukrainian crisis is due to the supply of new weapons.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.