Hungary will not accept the deployment of Nato troops on its soil as part of manoeuvres over the Ukraine crisis, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told Euronews.

"The Hungarian army is in the proper shape to guarantee the security of the country. So, we don't need additional troops on the territory of Hungary," he added.

At the end of January, Szijjarto confirmed that Hungary’s defence ministry was consulting with Nato on the American proposal for the deployment of troops to Hungary, but dismissed news reports that the military alliance could deploy a 1,000-strong unit as "fake news".

The US has sent extra soldiers to Poland and Romania, while Germany has bolstered troop numbers in Lithuania. Nato troops are already stationed in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as well as Poland.

On the eve of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s visit to Moscow, Hungarian Defence Minister Tibor Benko made it clear to his UK counterpart that there is no need for Nato to deploy its troops in Hungary amid tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine, while stressing the country’s commitment to the alliance.

The Hungarian government has remained quiet about the military build-up on Ukraine’s borders and on Russian demands to withdraw military technology from Nato countries not members of the military alliance before 1999. Before the February 1 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Szijjarto called for a de-escalation of the crisis.

Hungarian-US ties have cooled since the Biden administration took office. Prime Minister Vikor Orban established cordial relations with former US President Donald Trump. Three years ago, the government has formally authorised the free movement of US armed forces in Hungary after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Hungary.