Ukraine Launched Ugly Campaign Against Hungary, Foreign Minister Szijjarto Says
09:15 20.12.2024 (Updated: 11:21 20.12.2024)
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BUDAPEST (Sputnik) - Earlier, Zelensky attempted to humiliate Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban by rejecting him as a mediator in the Ukraine conflict. In response, Orban stated on Wednesday that he would not be provoked and that the proposal for a Christmas ceasefire remains, leaving the decision to Zelensky.
In response to the proposal for a Christmas ceasefire, Ukraine has launched an ugly campaign against Hungary, but the Ukrainian people should judge Volodymyr Zelensky for this, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
"It is clear that... [Zelensky] has launched an ugly campaign against us in recent days; he constantly provokes us on the international arena. I think we cannot yield to this provocation," Szijjarto said on M1 television.
He said the responsibility for accepting or rejecting the proposal for a Christmas ceasefire now lies with the leaders of the countries that have received it, and they "will have to report to their voters."
"Hungary did what it could do as a neighboring Christian country: it created an opportunity for a ceasefire, and this proposal is on the table... and what [Zelensky] says about this will be judged by the Ukrainian people," the minister said.
Last week, Zelensky took offense at Orban for a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Orban and Putin discussed the possibility of establishing a "long-term and sustainable" peace in Europe. Szijjarto said the Hungarian side requested a phone conversation between Orban and Zelensky from Kiev but received an "uncultured refusal."
Earlier, Orban expressed to the Russian leader the idea of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine and a Christmas ceasefire; the proposal was also conveyed to Zelensky through diplomatic channels, but the latter, according to Orban, "rejected and excluded" it. The head of the Hungarian Prime Minister's office, Gergely Gulyas, has said Russia agreed to Hungary's prisoner swap proposal, and neither accepted nor rejected the ceasefire idea, but considered it.
