Hungary stands by peace in the face of external efforts to “push it into the war in Ukraine”, a state secretary of the foreign ministry told public news channel M1 on Friday. Responding to the European Parliament’s criticism of Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó’s visit to Belarus, Tamás Menczer said Szijjártó had used the visit to highlight the importance of dialogue and to encourage all warring parties to negotiate. “Once again, it’s become clear who is pro-war and who pro-peace,” he said. Russia, a nuclear power, should be negotiated with, he said. “Talk of a third world war … [and] conflict between nuclear powers is becoming increasingly frequent.” Conflict between NATO and Russia should be avoided at all cost because “that would mean the end of us all”. This can only be avoided through negotiations, he said. “Those against negotiations, like the MEPs criticising the Hungarian foreign minister, are pro-war as they don’t really want peace and a ceasefire,” he said.