Hungary will not join in arms shipments to Ukraine: FM

Hungary will not participate in arms shipments to Ukraine, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said on Monday. However, it will not stand in the way of other European Union (EU) member states doing so, reported Xinhua.

"The (Hungarian) government is unwilling to bear any financial burden" of arms shipments, Szijjarto said at a press conference in Brussels during the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

Szijjarto also criticized a new proposal by the European External Action Service (EEAS), aimed at setting up a five-billion-euro (5.4 billion U.S. dollars) framework within the European Peace Facility (EPF) for military aid to Ukraine.

Szijjarto said that while in his opinion "it is completely unacceptable for Hungary to give further momentum to arms shipments," he also respects the sovereignty of other EU members.

With regard to sanctions against Russia, he said that "this strategy has failed, there is no battlefield solution" to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.