The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has confirmed that due to Hungary's veto since 2017 Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba could not pariticipate in the official meeting of NATO foreign affairs. He had a separate meeting and not within the framework of the Ukraine-NATO Commission.

The meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of foreign ministers will be held in the Romanian capital of Bucharest on November 29-30. They will discuss further assistance for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba took part in the negotiations. However, the Financial Times was the first to report that Hungary did not want Kuleba to come to a full formal session of the two-day meeting, so the Ukrainian minister had to join his colleagues for dinner.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, commenting on this information for "European Pravda", explained the need to find a special format to overcome Hungary's veto.

They also confirmed to "European Pravda" that Dmytro Kuleba will hold talks with NATO ministers in the framework of a separate meeting specially organised by the NATO Secretary General.

"As you know, Hungary has been blocking meetings of the Ukraine-NATO Commission above the level of ambassadors since 2017. To formally overcome the Hungarian veto, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is organising a separate meeting for the NATO foreign ministers and Ukraine. Dmytro Kuleba and his foreign colleagues will discuss further military assistance to Ukraine and the restoration of Ukrainian energy infrastructure," said Oleh Nikolenko, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Nikolenko added that during the visit to Bucharest, the Minister will also hold some bilateral meetings.

Hungary lifted its veto in the first weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Dmytro Kuleba participated in official NATO meetings, same as Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov despite Hungary's veto.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs insists that it is incorrect to mention the "renewal" of Hungary's block since it has never stopped. The previous meetings were also held within special formats that had to be found to bypass Hungary's veto.

However, in early March, Ukraine joined the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), which had been also previously vetoed by Hungary, but after Russia's full-scale invasion, it lifted its veto.