Viktor Orban says he’s still holding out hope that Russia and Ukraine may agree to a ceasefire and large-scale prisoner exchange before Orthodox Christmas.
Hungary’s prime minister noted that Kyiv and Moscow were unlikely to reach such an agreement by Catholic Christmas, celebrated on 25 December.
“Therefore, I will try to make it happen by Orthodox Christmas,” he told a Hungarian radio station this morning, referring to 7 January.
He said if the agreement is reached, the two countries could exchange up to 1,000 prisoners of war “in just two or three days”.
Orban said he had “succeeded in convincing” Vladimir Putin of the plan on 11 December, but that Kyiv had rejected the initiative on the same day.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy “forcefully but politely” rejected a call from Orban to discuss the ceasefire, Hungary’s foreign minister claimed last week.
This week, Zelenskyy said he had not spoken to Orban and labelled Hungary’s attempts at brokering a ceasefire as “political PR”.
“We are not amused,” he said. “Nothing about Ukraine can be discussed or decided without us. That’s why we are sceptical about this.”
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