Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky failed to secure an additional $61 billion in aid from the US|EU Parliament|CC BY 2.0

In a historic moment for Ukraine, almost two years after the Russian invasion, EU leaders agreed to begin membership negotiations with the war-torn country.

But the European Union negotiations faced a setback on Thursday when it failed to greenlight a crucial $54 billion (50 billion euros) financial aid package for Ukraine.

Despite deciding to open accession negotiations, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed the aid, dealing another blow to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s efforts.

Orban defended his veto, citing Hungary’s interests.

Zelensky had recently made an unsuccessful bid to secure an additional $61 billion in aid from the US for purchasing weapons.