Orban rules out Ukraine joining NATO

Ukraine will not join NATO, but will become a buffer zone between the alliance and Russia. This was stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in his keynote speech on the results of 2024 on 22 February.

According to him, the conflict in Ukraine arose because NATO tried to take control over this territory. However, as the Hungarian prime minister noted, Western liberals did not take into account that Russia would not be left out in such a development.

"It is now clear that the experiment has failed and Ukraine, or what remains of it, will once again become a [buffer] zone of conflict [between NATO and Russia]. It will not be a NATO member," Orban emphasized.

In addition, the head of the Hungarian government promised that Kiev will never join the European Union (EU), contrary to Budapest's opinion.

"Ukraine's accession will ruin Hungarian farmers, and not only them, but the entire Hungarian national economy," he explained.

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On February 14, US President Donald Trump named one of the reasons for launching the special military operation (SMO) as the West's desire to pull Ukraine into NATO. According to the American president, Ukraine understood the unacceptability for Russia of the prospect of its accession to the North Atlantic Alliance before the special operation.

At the time, Trump also agreed with the words of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth about the unrealistic nature of Ukraine's entry into NATO. He noted that this led to the escalation of the conflict.

On 18 February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly stressed that NATO expansion was a direct threat to Russia's interests and sovereignty.