The Presidential Office has responded to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's statement that the Ukrainian president had allegedly rejected the Christmas ceasefire and a large-scale prisoner exchange with Russia.
As Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said in a comment to journalists, the Hungarian side, as always, had not discussed anything with Ukraine. Moreover, the Hungarian side did not warn Ukraine about its contacts with Moscow.
‘Ukraine did not authorise Hungary to do anything,’ the presidential adviser said.
Lytvyn emphasises that Ukraine is working on a daily basis to free the prisoners, and relevant contacts have been ongoing for two weeks now regarding a significant exchange by the end of the year.
‘We are committed to a full-fledged peace, and we are doing everything in coordination with our partners to achieve this - together with America, Europe, and other partners in the world. As always, we need not PR, but a just peace, and not empty talk, but reliable security guarantees,’ Zelenskyy's adviser adds.
The day before, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban responded to Zelenskyy's criticism of Orban's call to Putin on the X network. The Hungarian prime minister wrote that he had offered Ukraine a ‘Christmas ceasefire’ and a prisoner exchange with Russia, but was refused.
At the end of the Hungarian EU Presidency, we made new efforts for peace. We proposed a Christmas ceasefire and a large-scale prisoner exchange. It’s sad that President @ZelenskyyUa clearly rejected and ruled this out today. We did what we could! https://t.co/17f4tXJEsc
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) December 11, 2024
After his meeting with Donald Trump, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called Kremlin leader Putin.