Hungary announced that Russiaʼs “approval” was needed for Ukraine to join NATO. Kyiv answered

The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Hungary, Dora Duro, said that Ukraineʼs accession to NATO without the risk of starting a direct conflict between Russia and the Alliance is possible only under the condition of an agreement with the Russian Federation.

Oleg Nikolenko, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, answered her. He emphasized that Ukraine has the sovereign right to freely choose security measures, and no objective reasons would prevent it from joining the Alliance.

"We do not need Russiaʼs permission to become a member of the Alliance. At the same time, it is dangerous when individual Hungarian politicians try to make the security of the Euro-Atlantic space dependent on the whims of Moscow," Oleg Nikolenko said.

On April 24, the Russian propaganda publication "Izvestia" published an interview with the Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, Dora Duro. Therein, she stated that Ukraineʼs accession to NATO "without the risk of starting a full-scale conflict" is possible only if Russia approves such a step in the format of an agreement. According to her, Hungary also does not want to see Ukraine in the Alliance because of the "position" of ethnic Hungarians living in Transcarpathia.

• In January 2023, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called Ukraine a "no manʼs land", and in April — "financially non-existent".
• Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Hungary has not provided any military aid to Ukraine, periodically blocks the allocation of funds to us in the EU and opposes anti-Russian sanctions. In November 2022, the Hungarian government decided to provide $195 million in financial aid to Ukraine.