Ukraine's MFA condemns Moscow, Budapest for manipulating POW issue, summons Hungarian chargé for clarification
Ukraine has not received from the Hungarian side information about specific individuals whom Russia allegedly transferred to Hungary as prisoners of war, therefore Hungary's chargé d’affaires will be summoned to the Foreign Ministry to provide reliable information.
This was reported by Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in response to journalists’ questions, stressing that Moscow and Budapest are making prisoners of war part of "political PR" ahead of elections in Hungary.
"We see reports about Russia allegedly transferring several prisoners of war to Hungary. Of course, it is always important when people are released from Russian captivity, especially considering that 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war are subjected to torture in captivity. At the same time, the Ukrainian side has not been provided with information about specific released individuals, therefore the Hungarian chargé d’affaires will be invited to the MFA to obtain reliable data," the ministry said.
The MFA also said the Ukrainian side would request access to the individuals who had been returned.
As the Foreign Ministry said, for Ukraine the issue of returning people from captivity is a priority, therefore the Ukrainian side is constantly working on it at all platforms and with all parties that can help secure the release of Ukrainian citizens from captivity.
"In particular, the Ukrainian negotiating group recently achieved success in the process of peace efforts under the leadership of the United States, and active work to continue exchanges is ongoing. At the same time, we have to state that Moscow and Budapest have not for the first time manipulated the sensitive issue of prisoners of war. One cannot fail to be struck by the cynicism when the issue of freeing people is turned into part of political PR ahead of elections in Hungary and a bargaining chip in relations with the Kremlin," the MFA said.
The ministry added that "it is obvious that neither Putin nor the current leadership in Budapest knows any limits to cynicism."
"We hope that after today they will leave these people alone and allow them to choose for themselves how to live further. We also condemn manipulations with the ethnic card coming from the Hungarian side. Ukraine always puts the interests of protecting its citizens first, regardless of their ethnic origin. Genuine humanitarian efforts by those states that sincerely help Ukraine free people from captivity and protect lives are never accompanied by such cynical PR and politicization. It is important that life has the highest value," the MFA said.
Earlier, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced a decision to release two individuals of Hungarian origin who are being held captive by the Russian army. This was reported by the Kremlin press service following a meeting with Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.
