KYIV, Ukraine, Aug 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr 
Zelensky said that during his meeting with Donald Trump on Monday, he asked 
the US leader to pressure Hungary into dropping its veto on Kyiv's bid to 
join the European Union.

Ukraine applied to join the EU days after Russia invaded in February 2022, 
but has been unable to advance accession talks due to vetoes imposed by 
Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"I asked President Trump that Budapest should not block our accession to the 
European Union," Zelensky said in comments released to journalists including 
AFP on Thursday.

"President Trump promised that his team would work on this," he added.

Hungary, Moscow's closest ally in the EU, says Ukraine joining the European 
Union poses security risks and that admitting the country while it is at war 
would drag Budapest into conflict with Russia.

Ukraine says Hungary's concerns are groundless.

"It is absolutely fair that Ukraine wants to join the European Union... This 
is our sovereign right," Zelensky told reporters.

Relations between the two countries have worsened dramatically since the war 
began.

Orban has refused to send military aid to Ukraine, while blocking tranches of 
EU aid to the war-torn country.

In July, Hungary summoned Ukraine's ambassador following claims an ethnic 
Hungarian man died weeks after military recruiters allegedly assaulted him in 
Ukraine.

Ukraine's security service said in May it had detained two alleged Hungarian 
spies, prompting the two countries to expel two diplomats each.