Stoltenberg: Hungary agrees not to veto NATO support for Ukraine

Hungary agreed not to veto NATO support for Ukraine, but Prime Minister Viktor Orbán insisted that his government would provide neither funds nor military personnel for any joint assistance effort.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated this on Wednesday, Ukrinform reports, referring to AP.

At a summit in Washington next month, U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are expected to agree on a new system to provide more predictable, long-term security help and military training to Ukraine’s beleaguered armed forces.

Stoltenberg confirmed that Hungary would not take part in NATO’s plans. “I accept this position,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Budapest following talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Stoltenberg said he and Orbán had “agreed modalities for Hungary’s non-participation in NATO’s support for Ukraine”.

No Hungarian personnel will take part in these activities and no Hungarian funds will be used to support them, the NATO chief said.

“At the same time, the prime minister has assured me that Hungary will not oppose these efforts, enabling other allies to move forward, and he has confirmed that Hungary will continue to meet its NATO commitments in full,” Stoltenberg said.

NATO makes all its decisions by consensus, effectively giving any of its 32 allies a veto.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western supporters of Ukraine have met regularly in the Pentagon-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group to rally military aid for Kyiv. The military alliance does not send weapons to Ukraine and has no plans to do so, but many of its members provide assistance on a bilateral basis. NATO estimates that it provides Ukraine with equipment worth about $40 billion each year.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, at the summit in Washington, the leaders of the Alliance countries are expected to agree on strengthening NATO's role in providing military assistance to Ukraine and determine long-term financial commitments for its further support.