During the phone call, Orbán made a proposal to carry out a larger prisoner exchange on Christmas Eve and declare a Christmas ceasefire in Ukraine, says spokesperson Dmitrij Peskov according to AFP.
He adds that the Russian side appreciated the Hungarian effort and later came back with a counter-proposal.
Viktor Orbán had not discussed this with Ukraine at all, according to the Ukrainian government. After his call with Putin on Wednesday, Orbán claimed that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyj had "unfortunately" rejected the proposal outright.
"Talks about the war against Ukraine, which Russia is waging, cannot take place without Ukraine", Zelenskyj announces, who in a social media post about Orbán emphasizes that one should not put European unity at stake to improve one's own "image".
Orbán's Hungary has gone against the other EU countries on the issue of Russia's invasion war and advocated for a purported peace solution where one meets the Russian government more than halfway. Last summer, when Hungary took over the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister made a criticized "peace trip" to Moscow and has repeatedly opposed the union's sanctions.
