Orban intimates Russia agreed to Christmas ceasefire proposal
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that there is still time to consider his proposal for a Christmas ceasefire and a major prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking about the offer he made to Moscow and Kiev earlier this week in an interview with Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orban said “one side accepted it, the other rejected it.”
Judging by comments coming from Ukraine, it is Kiev that is currently reluctant to support Budapest’s initiative.
”But there are still a few days until Christmas [December 25], and this may change,” he stressed.
The Hungarian proposal is aimed at making sure that “no one should die, at least, on Christmas. If the parties can come to an agreement, there could be a ceasefire on Christmas – as was the case in the First World War,” the prime minister explained.
"And if a large prisoner exchange could be agreed, then hundreds… of families could be made happy,” he added.
On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Orban had made such an offer to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their phone conversation on the previous day. Peskov did not say if Russia went along with the idea of having a truce during the holiday, but stressed that, in the hours following their phone call, Moscow provided a paper to the Hungarian embassy with its suggestions about how the prisoner exchange should happen.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky belittled Orban’s diplomatic activities, claiming that the Hungarian leader was only trying to “boost personal image at the expense of unity” in the EU in terms of supporting Kiev.
“There can be no discussions about the war that Russia wages against Ukraine without Ukraine,” he wrote on X.
Shortly after that, an aide to Zelensky, Dmitry Litvin, denied that any contacts between Kiev and Budapest on a proposed Christmas ceasefire and prisoner swap took place at all.
According to Peskov, unlike Ukraine, Russia “fully supports Orban’s efforts aimed at finding a peaceful settlement and resolving humanitarian issues related to the exchange of prisoners.”
“Russia has never refused peace talks and has repeatedly stated its readiness to resume them on the basis of the Istanbul agreements of 2022. We proceed from the assumption that consultations on establishing peace will continue,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
Earlier this year, Vladimir Putin said that, during the talks in Türkiye’s largest city, Ukraine was willing to declare military neutrality, to limit its armed forces, and vow not to discriminate against ethnic Russians. In return, Moscow would have joined other leading powers in offering security guarantees to Kiev.
