Ukrainian and Hungarian foreign ministers meet but fail to break a diplomatic deadlock

By JUSTIN SPIKE
Associated Press

KAMIANYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) — A years-long diplomatic conflict between Ukraine and Hungary took a step toward resolution during a meeting between their foreign ministers, but no breakthrough was reached on Hungary’s blocking of a crucial European Union financial aid package for Kyiv. The meeting near the Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod came as European leaders are scrambling to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to lift his veto of $54 billion in EU aid to Ukraine. Hungary’s foreign minister welcomed Kyiv’s steps to restore language rights for ethnic Hungarians in western Ukraine but they were not enough to resolve the dispute that has dominated the countries’ poor relations for years.