Ukraine’s Ambassador to Budapest to Magyar Hang: “Putin Started the War—So Why Is Kyiv Expected to End It?”

“Since Vladimir Putin started the war, it is hard to understand why people expect Kyiv to bring it to an end,” Sándor Fegyir, Ukraine’s ambassador to Budapest, said in an interview by the Hungarian journal Magyar Hang. The diplomat added that Moscow only shifts course when the Kremlin perceives “even a one-percent” risk, spoke about the prospects of a possible summit in Budapest, and condemned the anti-Zelenskyy billboard campaign currently running in Hungary. For Ukraine, he stressed, the issue is not merely “peace” as a slogan, but the enforcement of international law.

From the front line to the world of diplomacy

Fegyir did not take the path of a conventional career diplomat. He served as a soldier at the front, took part in evacuations, and even helped bring one of his own students out of the combat zone.

“War is not a theory. We have lost people; lives have been shattered. These experiences give me the strength to serve peace,” he said, summarising what he had lived through on the battlefield.

His posting to Budapest was preceded by months of preparatory contacts, yet at the very start of the interview he addressed the delay in taking up his post. It was not, he insisted, a political signal, but the result of bureaucratic and legal procedures—obtaining agrément (the host country’s formal approval), completing an asset declaration, and formally leaving the armed forces. In his view, the process led to misunderstandings, but carried no message of any kind.

“My door is always open to Viktor Orbán”

In an earlier interview with Válasz Online, the ambassador said he does not believe there can be genuine progress in Hungarian–Ukrainian relations until Viktor Orbán and Volodymyr Zelenskyy sit down for direct talks. Preparations and contacts are continuing, he noted, but no date or venue has yet been agreed. Fegyir added that, on paper, most elements of the 11-point package intended to address the situation of Hungarians in Transcarpathia have been met. Implementation, however, is often uneven—making sustained dialogue between the two sides essential, he argued.

The 2026 election as a political turning point?

The ambassador also suggested that Hungary’s 2026 parliamentary election could prove a milestone for bilateral relations. Until then, he said, the central question is whether the two countries can build a more balanced relationship—and whether meaningful progress can be achieved on issues affecting the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia.