Sijjarto noted the need to intensify efforts to resolve the crisis in Ukraine

Efforts to settle the situation in Ukraine should be intensified due to the increased risk of escalation. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said this during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on 2 December.

He noted that he arrived in the capital that day as part of Hungary's peacekeeping mission to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

"The last thousand days have proved that this <conflict> has no solution on the battlefield, so it can only be ended through negotiations, and diplomatic channels should be open for negotiations," Szijjártó said. The meeting was broadcast on the Hungarian foreign minister's Facebook page (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist, banned in Russia).

In addition, he expressed hope that the talks with his Russian counterpart would bring a peaceful settlement in Ukraine closer, and also noted that Hungary would continue to develop relations with Russia in areas not affected by sanctions.

On July 5, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Moscow and held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They discussed topical international issues, including Ukraine. In addition, the politician visited Kiev and Beijing. European politicians criticized his peacekeeping mission against the background of the beginning of Hungary's presidency in the EU Council. At the same time, back in September, Orban said that he had "unexpected" initiatives within the framework of his peace initiative on Ukraine.

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On November 29, the country's ambassador to Moscow, Ahmed bin Nasser Al-Thani, told Izvestiya that Qatar was ready to provide a platform for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

On September 27, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China, Brazil and other countries of the Global South intend to create an open platform "Friends of Peace" to settle the conflict in Ukraine. Slovakia joined the initiative. On August 16, Swiss Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Lea Zürcher spoke about the readiness to offer "good offices" in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Back in early November, Putin said that Russia appreciated the initiatives to help resolve the situation in Ukraine.

The last round of talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. Later, Kiev officially refused contacts with Moscow.

The special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022, is ongoing. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.