Ukraine "sharply" refused to arrange conversation between Zelenskyy and Orbán – Hungarian foreign minister
The Ukrainian side declined to arrange a phone call between Viktor Orbán and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the Hungarian ceasefire proposal.
Source: Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó live on Kossuth radio station, writes MTI, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Szijjártó underlined Hungary's proposal for a "ceasefire and mass exchange of prisoners", which Budapest hoped to submit to Ukraine and Russia before Christmas.
This initiative, he claims, was discussed during Orbán's conversation with Vladimir Putin, after which the Hungarian foreign minister informed his Ukrainian counterpart and the "head of the presidential administration", likely meaning Andrii Yermak, Head of the Ukrainian President's Office.
The Hungarian minister claims Budapest initiated a phone call between Viktor Orbán and the Ukrainian president, but was "somewhat sharply and politely refused" in a gesture "completely unprecedented in diplomacy".
Szijjártó did not explain why Hungary informed Ukraine about its ceasefire plan only after a conversation with Putin, but instead praised his country's efforts in the role of peacemaker.
"There is a proposition on the table that has not occurred in the last thousand days, and it is not up to Hungary to judge if it will be analysed and agreed upon by both sides. One side considered it and found it acceptable, but the other side took an unacceptable attitude," he continued.
Background:
- It should be noted that Szijjártó’s remark regarding the absence of previous ceasefire proposals is false: in the summer of 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed an Olympic ceasefire, which Russia did not even consider.
- However, the Hungarian foreign minister underlined that Orbán's allegation that Ukraine rejected his concept of a Christmas ceasefire was false, as the Hungarian side did not discuss it directly with the Ukrainians.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
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