Hungary Warns of Potential NATO Troop Deployment in Ukraine Without Quick Peace
12:18 GMT 13.06.2024 (Updated: 13:02 GMT 13.06.2024)
© AFP 2023 / ODD ANDERSEN
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - If NATO launches a mission to coordinate assistance to Ukraine, sooner or later alliance troops will be deployed in the country, at least as peacekeepers, Gergely Gulyas, the Hungarian prime minister's chief of staff, said on Thursday.
"Sooner or later it will happen that if a peace treaty is not quickly concluded, within the framework of the NATO mission in Ukraine, NATO troops — at least of a peacekeeping nature —will appear in the western regions of Ukraine. If Russia advances, military plans [of NATO] are already spoken about quite openly," Gulyas told a briefing.
If NATO troops are attacked outside the alliance's territory, on Ukrainian territory, then Hungary will not be obliged to provide military assistance to the allies in accordance with Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, the official added.
Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto decried NATO plans to let Ukraine use Western-supplied weapons to hit targets in Russia as "insane," warning that Russia’s response would be multifold.
He also criticized a proposal made by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that NATO take over the coordination of military aid to Ukraine, giving the alliance a more active role in the conflict. Szijjarto argued that NATO was wiping out its own red lines.
❗️If NATO launches a mission in Ukraine, alliance troops will be there sooner or later, at least as peacekeepers, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's office said.
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) June 13, 2024
If NATO troops are attacked on Ukrainian territory, Hungary is not obliged to participate in Article 5 response… pic.twitter.com/hmhtazBctW
