Hungary vetoes Council of Europe resolution supporting Ukraine's peace formula

Hungary has vetoed a resolution in the Council of Europe to officially recognise and support President Volodymyr Zelensky's 10-point peace formula, the country's foreign affairs minister said on May 17.

In a post on Facebook, Peter Szijjarto said that "other plans" had been proposed by others but were not being considered by the Council, and the exclusion of Russia from the body meant peace negotiations could not work. The minister did not specify which other plans he was referring to.

Ukraine's 10-point peace formula, a plan first outlined by President Volodymyr Zelensky in fall 2022, is composed of several key pillars, one of which is the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied Ukrainian territory.

Russia withdrew from the Council of Europe in March 2022 after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and was subsequently officially excluded a day later.

"Instead of fantasizing about nuclear war, we finally need real peace negotiations," Szijarto wrote, adding: "The real peace negotiation can only take place if all the warring parties are sitting around the table."

"Today, the Council wanted to adopt a resolution, in which it wanted to recognize only and exclusively President Zelensky's peace plan as a peace formula to be considered and supported."

Szijarto said he had asked for these other plans to be considered but this was rejected by the majority of EC members.

"That’s why I vetoed it, so there was no Council resolution," he said.

The most notable alternative peace plan was proposed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry which published a 12-point statement in Feb. 2023 outlining Beijing’s position on the “political settlement” of Russia’s full-scale war.

Many Western leaders dismissed the proposal, noting that it would likely only work in Russia’s favor.

Media: 50 states confirm participation in Ukraine’s peace summit in Switzerland

“We’re working intensively on the diplomatic front to convince those who haven’t yet announced their participation,” Nicolas Bideau, head of communications at the Swiss Foreign Ministry, told Swiss public radio RTS.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova