BUDAPEST, June 7. /TASS/. Western countries are dangerously close to the point of no return in the conflict in Ukraine, right on the doorstep of a direct military clash with Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Kossuth Radio.

Commenting on the continued escalation of the Ukrainian conflict, the head of government said: "As for any last chance of turning back, we are very close to the point of no return, when it will no longer be possible to turn back." Orban sees the tough talk coming from the leaders of the European Union and NATO countries as only fanning the flames, in particular the threats of the French president to hand over military aircraft to Ukraine. At the same time, the prime minister pointed out that Russia is also making extremely harsh statements against the US and its allies.

According to Orban, the danger of a new world war is growing. "This is a case where the conflict that began [in Ukraine] as a regional conflict was not isolated from the beginning. The supporters of the war made it a European conflict, and now it is going beyond the European continent and spreading to other parts of the world. This is how regional wars become world wars," the prime minister said.

He reiterated that Hungary will not be dragged into the Ukrainian conflict and will not participate in any potential NATO mission on the territory of the neighboring country. "NATO is a defensive alliance, so no one can force us to participate in military actions outside NATO territory, nor should we pay for this," Orban said. He pointed out that NATO requires member states to allocate 45 billion dollars a year for military aid to Ukraine, something Hungary is against.

At the same time, the prime minister recalled that "hope springs eternal" and that there is still time to prevent the Ukrainian conflict from escalating into a world war. According to him, the four-day-long elections to the European Parliament, which began on June 6, will provide such a chance, as well as the November elections in the United States, which could see former Republican President Donald Trump return to the White House. Orban expects that this could lead to a "transatlantic coalition for peace" in the fall to achieve a negotiated settlement in Ukraine. "We have to wait a few months until the US presidential election," the Hungarian prime minister said.