Nevertheless, the Hungarian Prime Minister expressed hope that the dialogue with Kiev on this topic will continue
BUDAPEST, July 3. /tass/. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that his proposal for a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine in order to start negotiations with Russia did not like the country's president, Vladimir Zelensky. Nevertheless, in an interview with the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche, the head of government expressed hope that the dialogue with Kiev on this topic would continue.
Orban, who visited Kiev on June 2, said after talks with Zelensky that he had offered him to establish a ceasefire in order to start preparing negotiations with Russia, but he did not support this idea. "He had some doubts about it. He didn't like it very much. He said: let's reflect, let's think about it," the prime minister said.
He clarified that Zelensky "had a bad experience with a ceasefire in the past, which, in his opinion, was not good for Ukraine." "Therefore, he understood my position, he explained his limits of what is possible, and we will see how we can continue this," the head of government said.
The purpose of the mission
Orban's visit to Kiev took place on the second day after the start of Hungary's presidency of the EU Council, and, according to him, he "sought to represent the interests of Europe in an honest and objective manner." "I tried to explain to Zelensky that time is getting shorter and it is important to establish peace, because hundreds of soldiers are dying at the front every day, and we do not see how a solution can be found on the battlefield," the prime minister said.
At the same time, he stressed that his intention "was not to convince Zelensky of anything." "My mission was to understand and clarify his position and find out what he is willing to do when we talk about peace. Because I intend to inform the EU Council about the possibility of [achieving] peace. But to do this, we need to know what the capabilities of others are," Orban explained.
Therefore, he tried to find out if there were any chances to change the situation and use other ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. "There are several proposals aimed at organizing peace talks and resolving the conflict. But it is obvious that this is a long, slow and complex process that requires considerable time," the prime minister said, adding that it will take months to prepare "a plan that will be acceptable to everyone as the basis for negotiations."
"So my idea was to ask Zelensky why we shouldn't change the course of action. What is his opinion about declaring a ceasefire first, even for a limited time - for two, three or four weeks. And while the ceasefire remains in force, we could speed up the process of organizing peace talks. In this way, we could accelerate the whole process that will lead us to peace," Orban said.
Kiev, in fact, rejected his proposal for a ceasefire. After the visit of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Igor Zhovkva said that such initiatives cannot be considered in isolation from other aspects of the settlement.
