Hungary has paid “an extremely high price” for the war in Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a post on Facebook post on April 30, responding to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's earlier comment that Budapest should not qualify for NATO membership.

Read also: Hungary’s Orbán claims Ukraine “economically defunct country,” Ukraine’s MFA reacts

Szijjártó said that Zelenskyy had no right to assess Hungary's actions as a NATO member.

"Fortunately, he is not the one to decide this," Szijjártó said. “The Hungarian people have already paid an extremely high price for this war.”

Szijjártó added that many Hungarians — members of the Hungarian community in Zakarpattya Oblast in western Ukraine — had already died in the war.

Read also: Ukrainian NATO membership possible only with Russia’s agreement, says Hungary’s deputy speaker

"If this statement (by Zelenskyy) means: ‘I respectfully thank the Hungarians for letting in and taking care of more than a million refugees from Ukraine, and I respectfully thank you for continuously sending aid,’ then they are welcome, and can count on us in the future as well," the Hungarian foreign minister wrote.

Szijjártó’s statement came a day after Zelenskyy, when asked how he assessed Budapest's position on not supporting Ukraine's accession to NATO, and whether it was possible to resolve this "dispute," said that Hungary's political elites were politically confused, as “it is irrational that a NATO country calls the aggressor Russia its friend.”

Read also: Russia puts Hungary on ‘unfriendly countries’ list, says envoy

Zelenskyy then said that Hungary was an ally of the alliance solely on paper.

Hungary continues to buy gas from Russia and has refused to allow deliveries of weapons to Ukraine to transit its territory.

Szijjártó has also visited Moscow several times for talks since the start of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, despite the other NATO allies maintaining a policy of diplomatically isolating Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

We’re bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine