Zelenskyy: I spoke with Orbán as frankly as possible

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he had spoken "as frankly as possible" with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected president of Argentina.

Source: Zelenskyyʼs video message

Quote: "On the sidelines of the inauguration, I talked with Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán as frankly as possible. And it is clear that we spoke about our European affairs."

Note: After the election of Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the post of President in 2019, the two leaders met only briefly. The Ukrainian President suggested to the Hungarian leader that they have a full-fledged meeting, but it never took place, although Kyiv considered the potential meeting an opportunity to open a new chapter in relations between the two states.

After the start of the Russian invasion, the already tense relations between Kyiv and Budapest deteriorated. Orbán has repeatedly stated that he does not believe in Ukraine's victory.

In February this year, Zelenskyy and Orbán had a brief conversation at the EU leaders' summit in Brussels, and the President of Ukraine invited the Hungarian leader to visit Kyiv but to no avail – although most EU leaders have visited Ukraine at least once or several times to express their support.

The current meeting took place against the background of Orbán's intentions not to support the decision of the EU summit on 14-15 December in Brussels to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union and to continue further financial and military support for Kyiv.

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