Speaking at a Ukraine conference in Switzerland, Szijjarto said that as probably the last EU country with open channels of communication with Russia, Hungary was well placed to facilitate dialogue.
What is needed is to prevent family separations and protect young people, given the large Hungarian population of at least 150,000 in western Ukraine. Budapest is ready to convey messages to Moscow to ease tensions, the top Hungarian diplomat added.
Switzerland is hosting a high-level conference on Ukraine at the Buergenstock resort outside of Lucerne from June 15-16. Some 92 countries and 55 heads of state have confirmed their participation, as well as eight organizations, including the European Union, the European Council and the United Nations. Russia has not received an invitation, but even if it had, it would not attend the conference, Vladimir Khokhlov, the spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Bern, told Sputnik in April.