"We are not at war with Hungarians": Zelenskyy shares his impressions from Orbán's visit to Kyiv

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that he views the visit of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to Kyiv positively, noting that it fosters "at least pragmatic" relations between the two countries.

Source: Zelenskyy during a meeting with Ukrainian journalists in Kyiv on Monday, 15 July, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Zelenskyy believes that Orbán's visit to Ukraine is "good for us in any case because we have not had any concrete relations".

"We are neighbours, we are not at war with the Hungarians. Our sole enemy, let me be clear, is Russia. And, sadly, they (the Russians) dragged Belarus into this war, from the territory of which we were also being attacked. But we are not at war with the Hungarians," the president explained.

Zelenskyy added that Kyiv should build "strong, friendly" relations with Budapest, but first "we must at least build pragmatic relations": "There are many of our people there. Therefore, I think his (Prime Minister Viktor Orban's – ed.) visit to Ukraine was the right thing to do."

However, Zelenskyy stressed that he did not support the Hungarian prime minister's trip to Moscow and also said it would be wrong if Orbán exploited his visit to Kyiv "so that he could feel comfortable coming to Russia afterwards".

Background:

• The Ukrainian president has previously stated that he does not believe Orbán can act as a mediator in a peaceful settlement between Ukraine and Russia.
• In addition, Zelenskyy stressed that the Hungarian prime minister does not have enough influence to conduct "negotiations to put an end to the war" in Ukraine.

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