NATO ally issues stark warning of new world war with Russia

Hungary, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), issued a stark warning on Friday about a new world war with Russia if a country within the military alliance gets directly involved with Ukraine’s fight against Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. For over two years, Ukraine has been at war fighting to protect its borders from Russian aggression with help mainly from its European allies and the United States.

However, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó warned against increased involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war at an event organized by the ruling Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance party.

“If at least one more European country is involved in this war, it will create a threat of a world war because this will certainly be a NATO country,” Szijjártó said, Tass, a Russian state-owned media outlet, reported on Friday. “And if a NATO country steps into a direct conflict with Russia, a new world war will be an inevitable consequence.”

Article 5 of NATO’s founding document states that “an armed attack against one or more” of its member nations “shall be considered an attack against them all.”

Newsweek reached out to Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs via email as well as the Russian government and NATO via online form for comment.

The foreign minister’s comments come after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg recently proposed a 100 billion euro, or $107 billion, five-year package of military aid to Ukraine.

Szijjártó called the proposal “madness” and said Hungary will attempt to distance itself from the plan.

“We Hungarians do not want to participate in joint NATO operations to transport weapons and train Ukrainian soldiers,” the foreign minister said during a Hungarian TV broadcast, Tass reported on Thursday. “In the coming weeks, during the negotiations, we will fight for Hungary’s right to stay away from this madness, from collecting these 100 billion dollars and pumping them out of Europe.”

NATO has strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is a close partner to the military alliance. Ukraine has long aspired to be a part of NATO and while the military alliance has said that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO” the war-torn nation has yet to be extended an invitation to join.

Hungary is both a member of NATO and of the European Union (EU), which has been a staunch supporter and aid backer of Ukraine. This has put Hungary in a strange position given its close ties to Russia.

In October 2023, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Putin reaffirmed their commitment to bilateral relations during a meeting in Beijing. U.S. ambassador to Hungary David Pressman said in a statement at the time that “the United States is concerned about Hungary’s relationship with Russia.”