‘Hungary and India in peace camp… Buying oil (from Russia) has nothing to do with ideology’: Hungarian Minister

India has been talking about peace, but at the same time, most of Europe has ticked off India on purchasing oil from Russia. Hungary has also been among countries criticised for purchasing Russian oil. How would you respond to that?

We belong to the same camp as India — the peace camp. We hope that peace will come back to Central Europe, the Western world, as there is a big improvement in favour of peace, which has increased the chances.

On buying oil, it’s simple: energy has nothing to do with ideology. Energy is a matter of physics, and geography. If you look at the situation physically and geographically in Central Europe, it’s obvious that without the Russian supplies, we would not be able to supply the country.

And this is not because of politics or ideology; this is the reality.

How do European countries expect to join peace process?

What I see now is that most of the EU member states and the European institutions have made a clear commitment to continue the war, which is terrible. The longer this war takes, the more people will die.. and more Ukrainian territories will be occupied. I hope that the commitment of (US) President (Donald) Trump to make these negotiations with Russia successful is stronger than the will of some European politicians to undermine this process.

How hopeful are you about the phone call between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin?

We hope that these two leaders will be able to make kind of an agreement about how to normalise the US-Russia relations for the future, because from the perspective of global safety and security, a good US-Russia relations would be very helpful.

How do you see PM Modi’s role in terms of war in Ukraine?

We have carefully followed the visits and statements after the visits of Prime Minister Modi to to Russia and to Ukraine. And we respect what he said as he was speaking for peace. And this is what we Hungarians want; this coincides with our interests in Central Europe. We have been living in the shadow of the war for three consecutive years now. I wish our European counterparts had not attacked us a year ago when we came forward with our proposals on ceasefire and peace.