Orban has "too warm" relations with Putin. He has no mandate to negotiate - Zelenskyy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not speak with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The head of state said this at a press conference, Censor.NET reports.
"I did not have a conversation with the Hungarian Prime Minister. I think it is very frivolous when we talk about certain initiatives related to the lives of Ukrainians when we learn about them from the media.
The Hungarian prime minister, with all due respect to the Hungarians, to Hungary's attitude towards Ukrainian refugees, but Mr. Prime Minister has no mandate to negotiate," the president said.
According to Zelenskyy, Orban and Putin have "too warm" a relationship to "put Putin in his place."
"It seems to me that it is very important for us to preserve Ukraine, our independence, sovereignty, and to preserve Europe. We need support," the head of state said, adding that Orban's initiatives are more like political PR.
What preceded it?
Tensions between Ukraine and Hungary escalated after Viktor Orban called Russian dictator Vladimir Putin last week.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that he had proposed that Ukraine and Russia make a Christmas truce and a large-scale prisoner exchange.
Zelenskyy's advisor Dmytro Lytvyn said that the Hungarian side had not discussed any such proposals with Ukraine.
The Kremlin said that Russia, in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's initiative to hold a "Christmas truce" and exchange prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, had allegedly passed its proposals to Budapest, but ’Kyiv rejected the idea."
