Andrii Yermak, chief of staff of the Ukrainian president, said yesterday, Wednesday, that he wishes to have meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the face of Budapest’s opposition to opening negotiations with Kiev on its EU membership.

Germak said he had spoken to Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó about the possibility of holding a meeting between Zelenskiy and Orbán, after the latter’s party publicly expressed its opposition to the start of accession negotiations.

Germak wrote on Telegram that he agreed with Szijardo “to work together to set a suitable date for this meeting.”

For his part, the Hungarian minister pointed out that Budapest is open to such a meeting, but “it will only make sense if there is a chance that the meeting will have a positive result.” “For this reason, serious preparations and preliminary discussions are needed,” he added.

In order to start negotiations for the Ukraine’s accession to the EU needs a unanimous decision by all leaders of the bloc during their session next week.

Yermak, who is currently in the US with a Ukrainian delegation to discuss US aid to Kiev, stressed that Ukraine “relies on a positive decision” from the EU summit.

According to him, the Ukrainian parliament will consider in the next few days bills of critical importance for the country’s EU membership. “We fully comply with our obligations,” he emphasized.

Orban has warned that in this session EU leaders will not be able to reach a unanimous decision on the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine. He has also estimated that the issue should not be on the agenda.

Besides, Hungary’s ruling party, Fidesz, submitted yesterday, Wednesday, a proposal to the parliament in which it asks the government not to support the start of negotiations with Ukraine for its accession to the EU.

“EU enlargement policy should remain an objective process based on rules and performance,” reads the Fidesz proposal.

As Fidesz points out, European leaders should first carefully assess how Ukraine’s eventual EU membership will affect the bloc’s cohesion and agricultural policy, which mainly benefits the poorest member states, including Hungary.

The large influx of Ukrainian grain into the EU last year sparked strong protests from eastern European farmers, while Polish truck drivers have blockaded border crossings to Ukraine, calling on the EU to restore permits restricting the passage of their Ukrainian competitors.