The European Union, seeking a place at the negotiating table to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, demands firm security guarantees for Ukraine, but does not demand the same for Russia, said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
„No one in the European Union has said a word about security guarantees for Russia, without which the conflict cannot be resolved. But the question arises: to whom does the European Union want to provide these guarantees? To a regime that will continue to destroy everything Russian? And at the same time suppress everything Hungarian, Bulgarian and Romanian? "It is obviously pointless to ask this question to Brussels," Lavrov added, quoted by the Foreign Ministry website.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Minister stressed that any guarantees should be based on the principle of the indivisibility of security.
France and Britain have expressed their readiness to send troops to Ukrainian territory after a peace agreement and create "military centers" there, train Ukrainian armed forces and build secure facilities. The United States has promised to participate in the ceasefire monitoring mechanism.
Late last year, the United States proposed providing Ukraine with security guarantees similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter. Politico suggested that Washington was thus seeking to allay concerns expressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and some European leaders about Ukraine's vulnerability after the end of the conflict.
Foreign ministers are responsible for maintaining political dialogue, including between Russia and Hungary, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, commenting on the “leaked“ phone conversations he had with his Hungarian counterpart, Péter Szijjártó.
He was asked about a statement by European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho, who called information about contacts between Lavrov and Szijjártó evidence of possible coordination between Moscow and Budapest, which allegedly threatens the security and interests of the EU.
“Of course, their parents should have taught today's European newsmakers that wiretapping is a sin. "And if you have heard something that incriminates you, it is even better to remain silent and avoid embarrassment," Lavrov said.
He explained that the discussions with Szijjártó focused mainly on protecting the legal rights of Hungarians in Ukraine.
At the end of March, the “Washington Post“ reported that Szijjártó had been regularly calling Sergei Lavrov during breaks in EU meetings. Hungarian EU Affairs Minister János Boka dismissed the material as a hoax. Politico later reported that Brussels had decided to limit Budapest's participation in confidential negotiations due to concerns that information could leak to Moscow.
At the same time, Hungarian journalist Szabolcs Pani published a transcript of a conversation between Szijjártó and Lavrov. He claimed that the recording was made by the intelligence service of an EU country, without specifying which one. According to the journalist, discussions at EU meetings are held under strict security conditions, which allows intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on phone conversations.
Szijjártó commented on the publication of his wiretapping on social networks: “Shocking, this is how they work: Hungarian “journalists“, foreign services, Ukrainian interests.“