BUDAPEST: Hungary\u2019s foreign minister said European leaders\u2019 meeting in Paris on Monday to discuss Washington\u2019s shock policy shift on the Ukraine war was an effort to \u201cprevent\u201d peace.
\nThe summit comes after US President Donald Trump sidelined Kyiv and its European backers last week when he called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to talk about starting negotiations to end the conflict.
\nHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban \u2013 one of the closest EU partners of Trump and Moscow \u2013 has repeatedly called for peace talks and refused to send military aid to Ukraine since Russia\u2019s invasion in 2022.
\n\u201cToday, in Paris, pro-war, anti-Trump, frustrated European leaders are gathering to prevent a peace agreement in Ukraine,\u201d Peter Szijjarto told a press briefing which was livestreamed on his Facebook page.
\n\u201cUnlike them, we support Donald Trump\u2019s ambitions, unlike them, we support the US-Russian negotiations, unlike them, we want peace in Ukraine,\u201d he added.
\nLeaders from the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark are expected at the Paris meeting, which falls ahead of the third anniversary of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
\nAntonio Costa, who heads the European Council representing the European Union\u2019s 27 nations, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte will also be present.
\nThe French presidency said the meeting would address \u201cthe situation in Ukraine\u201d and \u201csecurity in Europe.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, Slovenia\u2019s pro-EU president also criticized the Paris meeting for not including all 27 of the bloc\u2019s leaders.
\n\u201cOn a symbolic level, the organizers of the Paris summit show to the world that even within the EU not all states are treated equally,\u201d Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BUDAPEST: Hungary\u2019s foreign minister said European leaders\u2019 meeting in Paris on Monday to discuss Washington\u2019s shock policy shift on the Ukraine war was an effort to \u201cprevent\u201d peace. The summit comes after US President Donald Trump sidelined Kyiv and its European backers last week when he called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to talk about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-462088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n