Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he learned about Viktor Orbán’s proposal for a “Christmas ceasefire” from the media, as no official request had been received from Hungary. The Ukrainian side emphasized that it did not authorize Hungary to negotiate with Russia and views Orbán’s actions as a political PR stunt or an information campaign aimed at discrediting Kyiv. Zelensky and his advisors noted that any decisions concerning Ukraine must be made exclusively with Ukrainian participation and in the interests of the Ukrainian people.
In recent weeks, Hungary and Russia have accused Ukraine of allegedly rejecting Viktor Orbán’s “peace initiative” to cease fire and conduct a large-scale prisoner exchange over Christmas. Russian media claim that Kyiv “cynically” and “un-Christianly” rejected the Hungarian leader’s proposals, while some even suggest that Kyiv might attempt a counteroffensive under the cover of the Christian holiday.
On December 11, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán claimed that he had proposed a “Christmas ceasefire” and a large-scale prisoner exchange to Ukraine. According to Orbán, at the end of Hungary’s EU presidency, the country “made renewed efforts to achieve peace,” but Zelensky allegedly rejected them.
In response, the Office of the President of Ukraine stated that Hungary never discussed the possibility of a Christmas ceasefire with Ukraine, and that such statements are merely PR stunts aimed at grabbing headlines. “As always, the Hungarian side did not discuss anything with Ukraine. As always, Hungary did not inform us about its contacts with Moscow. As always, Ukraine did not authorize Hungary to do anything,” said Dmytro Lytvyn, the president’s communications aide.
The fact that Ukraine did not authorize Hungary to negotiate a “Christmas truce” with Russia was confirmed by Vladimir Putin on December 19. During his Direct Line program, the Russian president revealed details of his conversation with Orbán. Putin claimed that the Hungarian prime minister proposed a Christmas ceasefire with Ukraine, and Moscow agreed on the condition that Orbán “clarify Ukraine’s position”.
“Orbán said to me: ‘What will it cost you for a day or two? It’s a Christmas truce. The enemy can’t do anything significant in two or three days. I replied, ‘Yes, probably. But I said, ‘Talk to Ukraine first. Now I asked Orbán – I didn’t refuse. But I told him to ask them first. He asked. The next day the head of the regime said that there would be no ceasefire, no exchange of prisoners,” Putin said during his speech on Direct Line.
It is worth noting that on December 13, the day after Orbán’s statement about Ukraine’s alleged rejection of the “Christmas ceasefire,” Russian troops attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. In total, Ukrainian air force radar units detected 287 air threats – 94 missiles and 193 UAVs. On the same day, Orbán issued another statement claiming that Hungary had “done everything possible” by proposing a Christmas ceasefire and a large-scale prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.
After the Russian attack, Dmytro Lytvyn reiterated that Hungary had not informed Ukraine about its contacts with Moscow, had not agreed on anything, and that Ukraine had not authorized Hungary to do anything. “Right now we can see that Orbán’s PR stunt was used by Moscow to cover preparations for another missile attack on our energy infrastructure. Russian missiles have even dangerously approached the borders of the EU again,” he said.
On December 17, another aide to the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Mykhailo Podolyak, also stated that Viktor Orbán had not actually made any proposals for a “Christmas ceasefire” between Ukraine and Russia. According to him, this is an information mini-operation. “In this case we see a classic information mini-operation: ‘Look, everyone is ready for peace except Ukraine. Never mind that they have been attacked, that they are being killed and so on. They should just stop resisting,'” Podolyak said.
During a December 19 press conference in Brussels, where President Zelensky was attending a meeting of European Union leaders in the format of the European Council, he stated that he had not spoken with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán about his proposal for a “Christmas ceasefire” and prisoner exchange.
“I did not have a conversation with the Hungarian prime minister. I think it’s very irresponsible when we talk about initiatives that affect the lives of Ukrainians and learn about them from the media,” the president said.
Volodymyr Zelensky also noted that the Hungarian prime minister has no mandate to negotiate and pointed to the warm relations between Orbán and Putin. “All this looks more like political PR. I do not know what the Hungarian side is proposing. Besides, it just sounds ‘festive’ – ‘Christmas exchange’. But we are not in a festive mood. Without us, nothing can be discussed or decided about Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
Earlier, Dmitry Lytvyn stated that Ukraine, regardless of Orbán’s statements, is already negotiating with Russia to conduct a large-scale prisoner exchange by the end of 2024.
It is worth noting that the Kremlin has previously speculated on the topic of a “Christmas ceasefire” in order to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of the international community. To learn how, before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia falsely claimed that Kyiv refused to ceasefire on Christmas night during the fighting in Donbass, read the article Fake: Ukraine Refuses Christmas Truce and Prisoner Exchange in Donbas.
