Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Kyiv does not need such mediators in peace talks as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Speaking at the Congress of Regional and Local Authorities in Lviv, Zelensky said:
“I expect that we will have closer contacts after the inauguration of the new US president. We will meet, and only after that I will be able to tell you what our plan is supported by President Trump, and what may not be supported, and maybe he will want to add something of his own. I believe and hope that he will give strength to our plan by strengthening the relationship between Ukraine and the United States.”
Ukrainian leaded also added:
“And it is only this alliance, a strong alliance, that we need. We don’t need those countries that today just want to, like Hungary, for example. I’m not talking about people – people support Ukrainians. I’m talking about Prime Minister Orbán, who wants to, you know, somehow there, somewhere there – it won’t work. I will not let him and people like him in. We need direct relations with the United States. We’re a strong country, we’ve shown that. And on the battlefield, during all of Putin’s aggression. Does anyone else in Europe have such a modern example? No one. Does Orbán have such an army? No. How will he pressure Putin? In what way? With a joke? A smile? Let him keep it.”
Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said:
“Real negotiations on sustainable peace will begin only when the enemy has no resources left to continue the war, so there is an incredibly big job ahead.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, saw no opportunity for dialogue due to the fact that “the positions of the sides are absolutely incomparable.”
US President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that “little progress” had been made in resolving the conflict in Ukraine. He said he and his team would hold talks with President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky’s representatives to stop the conflict. Zelensky, according to Trump, “wants peace.”
Orbán said he made a proposal for a ceasefire over Christmas and a big prisoner exchange, but Ukraine rejected it. Kyiv said it had not discussed such an issue with the Ukrainian side.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called Ukraine’s rejection of the proposal a confirmation that Kyiv was not interested in peace talks but wanted to continue fighting.
In early July, the Hungarian prime minister held meetings with Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Recep Erdogan, Donald Trump, as well as Zelensky. Orbán subsequently handed all EU leaders a plan to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Before travelling to Kyiv, Orbán named a condition for a ceasefire in Ukraine. He said it would happen if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election.
Addressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he urged him to consider a ceasefire even before possible peace talks. Zelensky has not publicly responded to Orbán’s call, but the deputy head of the President of Ukraine, Ihor Zhovkva, said the offer was rejected.
Hungarian PM will become a conduit for US President-elect Donald Trump’s ideas in Europe, a role predicted to him by Eurasia Group, founder of US-based political risk research and consulting firm Eurasia Group. The political analyst said:
“Orbán will see himself as a conduit of Trump’s ideas and use this to gain more influence in Europe.”
Péter Krekó, director of Budapest-based think tank Political Capital, said the politician hopes to increase his relevance as a mediator. It will not be as easy for the European Union to ignore Hungary’s position as before, given its prime minister’s close relationship with the US president-elect.
