The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine will call the ambassador Hungary in protest against the “completely unacceptable” statements of the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban per UkraineKyiv announced this today.

This statement indicates a further deterioration in relations between the two neighboring countries. Hungary has repeatedly criticized European Union sanctions against Russia, saying they have failed to effectively weaken Moscow and risk hurting the European economy.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said in a Facebook post that Orban had told reporters that Ukraine was a “neutral zone” and compared it to Afghanistan.

“Such statements are completely unacceptable. “Budapest continues its conscious course aimed at destroying Hungarian-Ukrainian relations,” he added.

“The Hungarian Ambassador will be summoned to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for a frank conversation. We reserve the right to take other retaliatory measures.”

Orban said today that Hungary would veto any EU sanctions against Russia that would affect nuclear power. Hungary has a Russian-built nuclear power plant that it plans to expand.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}