Zelenskyy slams Orban over call with Russia’s Putin to discuss Ukraine 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for discussing the Ukraine war in a call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Orban, who has maintained closer ties with Putin than other European countries throughout Russia’s war in Ukraine, said on X that the pair’s phone call on Wednesday lasted an hour and that “these are the most dangerous weeks” of the war.

“No one should boost [their] personal image at the expense of unity,” Zelenskyy said on X.

“We all hope that Orban at least won’t call Assad in Moscow to listen to his hour-long lectures as well,” he added, referring to Russia’s decision to grant deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad political asylum.

Kyiv has repeatedly called for unity among its allies on isolating Putin and has said any discussions on the war must involve Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials have also warned that a ceasefire in the 33-month-old war would benefit Moscow, as it could freeze current front lines with Russia holding about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory.

The Kremlin said Putin had told Orban during the phone call that Kyiv’s stance excluded the possibility of a peaceful settlement to the war.

The call was initiated at the Hungarian leader’s request, the Kremlin said, and came a day after Hungary’s top diplomat said his country would forge ahead with its self-styled Ukraine “peace mission”.

Orban responded to Zelenskyy’s gripe on X by saying that Hungary had proposed a “Christmas ceasefire” and a prisoner exchange but that the Ukrainian leader had “clearly rejected and ruled this out”.

Orban did not offer more details about exactly when or how he had proposed such a truce, or whether the same offer was made to Putin.

Ukraine, in turn, denied that Orban discussed a Christmas truce with them.

“As always, the Hungarian side did not discuss anything with Ukraine. As always, the Hungarian side did not warn [us] about its contacts with Moscow,” presidential aide Dmytro Lytvyn said in a statement.

“There can be no discussions about the war that Russia wages against Ukraine without Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said on Wednesday.

Orban has repeatedly called for peace talks and refused to send military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its offensive in February 2022.

He angered fellow EU leaders in July by engaging in diplomatic talks with Russia on ending the conflict, just days after Hungary took over the bloc’s rotating six-month presidency.