Hungary delivered a blow to its relations with Ukraine by signing a contract with Russia on gas deliveries bypassing Ukraine, which will accordingly respond to this move, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

"We mean the country, Hungary, which is a member of the EU and a member of NATO, but, at the same time, has a special relationship with Russia and has delivered a blow to Ukrainian-Hungarian relations by excluding the Ukrainian gas pipeline from the arrangements for gas deliveries from Russia. It's a blow, and we will respond to it accordingly, because there shouldn't be any compassion or any sympathy in this case," Kuleba told the Freedom of Speech program on the ICTV television channel.

A meeting of the Ukrainian-Hungarian joint intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, initially due to take place on September 29-30, with the two countries' foreign ministers co-chairing it, was cancelled even before the aforementioned contract was signed between Hungary and Russia.

"We knew that a Russian delegation was heading there, that this contract would be signed. And they were already aware of our position when they signed this contract. It will not be just a political step - the cancellation of a meeting of the commission, which is the main body of bilateral cooperation. We will also take other steps to defend Ukraine's national interests in this situation," he said.

Hungary and Russian gas giant Gazprom have signed a new long-term contract on gas supplies to Hungary bypassing Ukraine.