Szijjarto on Leaked German Talk: NATO Agreed to Not Be Party to Ukraine Conflict

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - NATO member states are still in agreement that the military alliance is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine, despite leaked audio of German military officials discussing a possible missile strike on the Crimean Bridge with a French fighter jet, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told RIA Novosti.

"I'd like to say two things on that: first, that we have a decision in NATO in place, and this decision has not been questioned by anyone yet. This decision has been made a bit more than two years ago, and this decision says that NATO is not a party to this conflict," Szijjarto said, when asked about the leaked conversation.

Neither Germany nor France has challenged or requested a review of the NATO decision, Szijjarto said.

Last week, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT and Rossiya Segodnya (Sputnik's parent media group), published a recording of the February 19 conversation between four high-ranking German military officers. The top brass were discussing a potential attack on the Crimean Bridge with long-range Taurus missiles. Germany has confirmed the authenticity of the recording.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the content of the leaked audio recording points to direct involvement of the collective West in the conflict in Ukraine. The West must bear responsibility for the results of the disruptive actions it has planned and implemented, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.