WorthyNews: Hungary: ‘Ukraine Rejects Christmas Truce With Russia’ (Worthy News Focus)

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\By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent reporting from Budapest, Hungary

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungary’s prime minister has accused the president of neighboring war-torn Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of rejecting his proposal for a Christmas truce and a large-scale prisoners’ exchange with Russia.

Viktor Orbán spoke after the Ukrainian leader condemned his lengthy phone call of more than an hour with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day.

“At the end of the Hungarian [European Union] EU Presidency, we made new efforts for peace. We proposed a Christmas ceasefire and a large-scale prisoner exchange,” Orbán wrote on social media platform X. “It’s sad that President Zelenskyy clearly rejected and ruled this out today. We did what we could!” he added in the remarks monitored by the Worthy News Europe Bureau in Budapest.

However, Zelenskyy lashed out at Orbán, who is seen as the EU’s closest ally of Putin. “We all hope that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at least won’t call [ousted Syrian President] Assad in Moscow to listen to his hour-long lectures as well,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“It’s absolutely clear that achieving real peace and guaranteed security requires America’s determination, Europe’s unity, and the unwavering commitment of all partners to the Purposes and Principles of the U.N. Charter” on international cooperation and peace, he said.

In an apparent reference to Orbán’s ambition to become Europe’s peace broker, Zelenskyy stressed that “no one should boost personal image at the expense of unity; everyone should focus on shared success.”

He added, “Unity in Europe has always been key to achieving it. There can be no discussions about the war that Russia wages against Ukraine without Ukraine.”

THANKING TRUMP

Though U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump met Orbán this week, and both are reluctant to give Ukraine military aid, Zelenskyy claimed he was “grateful” to Trump “and many European leaders with whom we are already working to find the right and strong solutions for real peace.”

The war-of-words between the Hungarian and Ukrainian leaders also followed suggestions by the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, that peace talks might begin within weeks and that Warsaw would play a role in this. “Our [EU] presidency will notably be co-responsible for what the political landscape will look like, perhaps how the situation will look during [peace] negotiations, which could begin – though there are still question marks – in the winter [in Europe] of this year,” Tusk told media.

However, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó dampened those expectations, saying Putin noted obstacles to peace talks, such as a Ukrainian law that “essentially prohibits the current presidential administration from negotiating peace.”

Hungary, which refused to provide military aid to Ukraine, “maintained its peace stance for a thousand days on achieving a sustainable peace settlement,” he said.

Szijjártó confirmed that Orban visited Trump in Florida this week after meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican as part of efforts towards forging a peace settlement.

“[We] will continue the Hungarian peace mission, seeking the fastest path to peace in order to save lives,” the minister stressed.

The two leaders also discussed ways to help stabilize Syria and the broader Middle East after Russia-backed President Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow over the weekend.

CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES

Hungary, he added, “was focused on the situation of Christian communities and would continue to provide them with the humanitarian support necessary.”

Orbán and Putin also discussed Russia’s energy supply to Hungary and other countries in the region.

Szijjártó complained that outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden made it hard for several Central and Southeast European countries, including Hungary, to make payments for natural gas and nuclear fuel by placing Russia’s Gazprombank under sanctions.

“Slovakia, Serbia, and Turkey also face similar challenges, and consultations with these countries were underway,” he stressed.

He said Moscow and Budapest agreed to “eliminate this problem” without elaborating, adding a solution had already been found for Russian fuel rods for Hungary’s nuclear power plant.

The talks were expected to raise eyebrows in Brussels which has questioned Hungary’s close ties with Russia despite being an EU and NATO military alliance member.

Hungary has been at odds with the EU over sanctions against Russia over its war against Ukraine, which is believed to have killed and injured up to 1 million people.

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