Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demands a ‘frank conversation’ with Hungary after Viktor Orban calls Ukraine a ‘no man’s land’

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Hungary’s Ambassador to Ukraine, István Íjgyártó, to have a “frank conversation,” following recent remarks by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. 

Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry, posted on Facebook that “Budapest is on the way to deliberately ruining Hungarian-Ukrainian relations, significantly undermining the possibility of further dialogue between the two neighboring countries.” 

On January 26, Viktor Orban met with journalists and discussed, among other things, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A journalist from the American Conservative reported that Orban told journalists that Putin cannot afford to lose this war, in part because of next year’s Russian presidential elections. According to the American Conservative, Orban compared Ukraine to Afghanistan, calling it a “no man’s land,” and saying “Russia’s goal is to make Ukraine an ungovernable wreck, so that the West cannot claim it as a prize.”

Hungary is one of the few EU countries that has not agreed to supply weapons to Ukraine. Hungarian authorities have also repeatedly lobbied for some Russians to be exempt from sanctions.