West and Russia should cooperate to pave the way for resolving the Ukrainian crisis, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Zsolt Németh said on Tuesday.

Efforts should focus on protecting Ukraine's territorial integrity, on restoring order and a rule of law, and on the economy, Zsolt Németh told commercial Lánchíd Rádió.

Ukraine is not far from economic collapse and international financial organisations should pay attention to the country, which needs about 20 billion dollars, he said. In view of IMF's room for manoeuvring, this is not a prohibitively high amount, he added.

The Hungarian State Secretary blamed the Ukrainian crisis on several factors, primarily on Ukraine's former power-holders. He also mentioned Russia, "which drove Ukraine into this situation by exerting huge, intolerable pressure."

Zsolt Németh said the third to blame was the West which failed to wake up in time and "give Ukraine an appropriate economic offer, enabling it to readily sign the association agreement." As Russia cannot have an interest in "dividing Ukraine into two parts", it makes sense for the West to pursue a dialogue and seek a compromise," he said.

In the current situation, Ukraine's EU accession is not on the agenda because neither side is prepared for that move, Zsolt Németh said.  "But all who thought that Ukraine can be reintegrated into Russia overnight have made a miscalculation," the Hungarian State Secretary said.

Zsolt Németh underlined that Hungarian diplomacy stood for political dialogue, preserving the territorial integrity of Ukraine and protecting the rights of the Hungarian minority.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)