Ukraine hopes for Hungary's constructive position on its European integration, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

"As for Hungary: we know that the draft negotiating framework has already been supported and Hungary did not block it. From July 1, Hungary will preside over the European Union. It also wants to hold a summit of the European Political Community. Therefore, we hope for certain constructive positions of the Hungarian side on the issue of our European integration," he said.

The head of the President's Office also noted that Ukraine continues to conduct bilateral negotiations with Hungary, including on issues of the rights of national minorities.

"However, the range of our bilateral relations is much wider than issues of national minorities. We have issues related to the economy, opening new checkpoints on the border, increasing the transit of Ukrainian products through Hungary and not only agricultural ones. By the way, the transit of our products to EU countries through Hungary has recently increased by 30%. And this is not the limit. There are a number of cross-border projects," Zhovkva said.

He also noted that "Prime Minister of Hungary Peter Szijjártó is a welcome guest in Ukraine."

"We are very open to cooperation with Hungary. President [of Ukraine Volodymyr] Zelenskyy had a number of meetings with Prime Minister [Viktor] Orbán, and there were also several telephone conversations. We are committed to a positive result," he said.

Answering a question about one of the prerequisites for the meeting between Zelenskyy and Orbán, which, as stated by the Hungarian side, is Ukraine's implementation of steps to restore the rights of national minorities to the 2015 level, Zhovkva replied that "Ukraine is working on this issue."

"There are so-called 'eleven steps'. Most of them are already close to understanding – how to carry them out, so to speak. And this, by the way, is not my assessment, but the assessment of the Hungarian side. But again, time is still needed, but also understanding that this is not the only issue in our relations. And there cannot be any connection. There is a team at different levels that works on these 'eleven steps' and there is a format for the work of the head of the President's Office on other issues with the Hungarian side," he said.