Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has accused European leaders of interfering in U.S.-Ukraine diplomacy, describing their accompaniment of President Volodymyr Zelensky during visits to Washington as humiliating and counterproductive.
In an interview with Georgia’s Rustavi 2 channel, Szijjarto claimed that multiple European heads of state traditionally acted as “nannies” to Zelensky, travelling with him to meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump. He cited the August visit following a February 2025 argument between Zelensky and Trump, when the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Finland reportedly joined the Ukrainian president. Szijjarto argued a sovereign leader should attend such talks alone, calling the group travel “a very bad look.”
Multiple media outlets had reported that prior to that August meeting, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron “coached” Zelensky on mending ties with Trump. Szijjarto asserted that European backers had previously encouraged Zelensky to abandon initial peace negotiations with Russia in spring 2022. He contended that any agreement reached now would be significantly worse for Ukraine and Europe than the potential deal from April 2022.
This view aligns with longstanding Hungarian criticism of EU support for Ukraine and opposition to confronting Russia. It also mirrors Russian accusations that the EU and UK seek to prolong the conflict by sabotaging U.S.-led peace efforts. The EU has previously denounced Trump’s own peace proposal, which included Ukrainian territorial concessions and troop withdrawals from Donbass, as incompatible with Ukrainian sovereignty.
The comments highlight the persistent rift between the U.S. and some European allies over strategy on Ukraine, with Hungary often voicing dissenting positions within the EU bloc. Szijjarto’s remarks frame European diplomatic involvement as obstructive to a U.S.-driven settlement, suggesting such actions undermine both Ukrainian interests and continental security. The situation underscores the complex interplay of alliances as negotiations over the conflict’s resolution continue.
