Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the Hungarian people, not the Ukrainian president, will decide whether Ukraine joins the EU.

Speaking in Pecs, in southern Hungary, Minister Szijjártó referred to Volodymyr Zelensky's recent statement that a majority of Hungarians were likely to support his country's EU bid.

"It's not the president of Ukraine but the Hungarian people who will make the decision..." Minister Szijjártó said.

He said the opposition Tisza Party backed Ukraine's bid as it was "a member of the most pro-Ukrainian party family in Europe, the European People's Party".

The minister said Brussels wanted to fast-track the accession process, and this would mean "tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian workers" flooding the Hungarian labour market, while "the Ukrainian mafia could use Hungary as a gateway".

Minister Szijjártó said Hungarians could "prevent this" by voting in the upcoming referendum on the issue. Whatever the standpoint of Hungarians, "we will represent it," he added.

Meanwhile, responding to a journalist's question, he said it would be "bad news" if the US were to withdraw from the diplomatic settlement process, "but this is not the case for now".

"I gather they want to give the warring parties more space for negotiations, but I hope that we can also count on their help in the future, in the coming days, weeks and months," he said.