A top Hungarian minister argued on Sunday that the West should give Russia security guarantees and prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, which would further intensify Budapest’s already hostile relations with Kyiv.
At a university event, Gergely Gulyás, the minister in charge of the prime minister’s office, said that in order for the West to support Ukraine, it must “grant security assurances to Russia,” but not NATO membership for the Ukrainians.
The idea that the West should reach an agreement with Russia on the new security architecture to grant Ukraine security and sovereignty but not NATO membership is comparable to what Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated last week.
Furthermore, he predicted that Ukraine would lose this war. Orbán’s assertions that Kyiv was “no longer a sovereign state” and financially “non-existent” in June infuriated the Ukrainian government.
Oleh Nikolenko, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry in Kyiv, responded to Orbán’s most recent comments by saying that Ukraine “does not exchange its regions or sovereignty.”
Due to the ongoing demands for Ukraine to give Moscow security guarantees, it is anticipated that relations between Hungary and Ukraine will worsen.
A $500 million eighth batch of military aid to Ukraine was put on hold last week when Hungary halted its delivery because Kyiv had branded Budapest’s OTP bank a global war sponsor.
But in an effort to patch things up and prevent a breakdown in relations, Hungarian President Katalin Novák paid a visit to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month.
Hungary has prohibited Ukraine from attending NATO ministerial meetings since 2018 over worries that Kyiv discriminates against Hungarian ethnic minorities by limiting their access to education in their own tongue.
However, Hungarian MPs continue to take their time in approving Sweden’s NATO membership. Gulyás claimed on Sunday that Budapest originally required clarification from Stockholm on statements where it had “accused our country with worthless and unfounded charges,” even if he acknowledged that the military alliance would be reinforced if Sweden participated.
He stressed the necessity of a cease-fire and peace negotiations.
“Russia cannot win because the entire western world has lined up behind. At the same time, Russia is a nuclear power, and a nuclear power cannot be cornered because they may trigger a nuclear war,” Viktor Orban posted on X.
He added that the sooner feasible peace talks to end the conflict in Ukraine, the better.
