Dóra Dúró, the deputy speaker of the Hungarian parliament, has stated that Ukraine's NATO membership is possible only if Russia approves such a step.

Dúró, a representative of the far-right Hungarian party "Our Homeland Movement", said in an interview with Russian "Izvestia" that "we do not see any circumstances that would allow us to support NATO expansion at the expense of Ukraine."

"While Ukraine's borders are disputed and armed conflict continues, even NATO's own rules exclude Kyiv's accession to the Alliance," she said.

She then set a condition for Ukraine's NATO membership, which, according to her, should be Russia's agreement.

"Without the risk of war, Ukraine's accession is possible only if Russia approves it as a certain agreement," said the Hungarian parliament representative.

In this context, Dúró also criticised Kyiv for allegedly "oppressing" national minorities.

"The Ukrainian leadership does not want to guarantee elementary rights to Hungarians, Romanians, Russians, and other minorities in the country, seeks to limit their existing rights, especially their languages. In light of the increase in military aid, Kyiv feels even less need to compromise and guarantee adequate rights to the indigenous Hungarian population of Transcarpathia," she said.

Dúró added that the Ukrainian authorities could make a "right step" in this direction by giving the Transcarpathian region and other regions territorial autonomy.

On April 20, during a visit to Kyiv, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine's future is in NATO, and all Alliance members agree with this.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was outraged (Ukr) by the NATO Secretary-General's statement that Ukraine should join the Alliance in the future.