Ukraine's MFA asks Orbán to stop speculating about his "Christmas truce"

Kyiv has repeatedly asked Hungary to refrain from manipulating the topic of the war in Ukraine, particularly in light of Budapest's "Christmas truce" proposal.

Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, stressed that "there is no real 'Christmas truce' on the table" at present, calling the alleged proposals "a PR move by the Hungarian side, which we call 'peace PR move'."

"Why are they doing this? Apparently, for some internal political reasons. There are no realistic proposals on the negotiating table," the spokesperson emphasised.

He noted that Ukraine has repeatedly asked Hungary, both publicly and privately, "not to engage in manipulations on the topic of war, deaths and the Christmas holiday".

"It's just a cynical manipulation, in our opinion... Well, you can see they're doing what they see fit," the spokesman concluded.

Tensions between Kyiv and Budapest escalated after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin last week.

Afterwards, Orbán said that he had proposed a ceasefire and a large-scale prisoner-of-war swap between Kyiv and Moscow for Christmas but claimed that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had rejected the idea.

Kyiv emphasised that it first learned of the "truce" proposal from media reports, as the Hungarian side had not communicated it directly.

Earlier, President Zelenskyy criticised Orban's attempts to present himself as a "mediator" in the "settlement" of the Russo-Ukrainian war.