The Ukrainian president also warned that his brigades were not equipped to confront Russia and that only the continued unity of the United States and Europe would allow Kyiv to prevail.
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The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Thursday “not serious” and“public relations operation” a Hungarian proposal for a ceasefire and exchange of prisoners on the occasion of Christmas.
During a press conference in Brussels, the leader also reiterated his calls on his Western allies to provide more weapons as well as additional security guarantees to Ukraine.
After briefing European leaders on the latest developments on the front line, Volodymyr Zelensky told the press that he had taken note of the Hungarian proposal “by the media”.
Viktor Orbán announced last Friday, during his weekly address to the nation, that Hungary had presented a proposal according to which “during the Christmas period, no one should die on the front line”citing a precedent dating from the First World War.
The Hungarian initiative also extended to a “large-scale prisoner exchange”declared Viktor Orbán, affirming that“one party accepted it while the other apparently rejected it”.
Volodymyr Zelensky, who did not speak to the Hungarian leader during his visit to Brussels, said: “With all due respect to the Hungarian people, to Hungary and to the treatment of Ukrainian refugees, the Prime Minister does not have a personal mandate to organize negotiations and his relations with Vladimir Putin are a little too warm to hand over the Russian president in his place”.
“We want stable peace”
Ukraine has so far secured the return of 3,500 of its nationals detained by Russian forcesand Volodymyr Zelensky claims that these returns represent “a very important challenge” to organize.
“We are exchanging prisoners and I am not sure what the Hungarian side is offering, it looks a bit like Christmas”he continues. “But the atmosphere is not really festive at home”.
“We cannot discuss anything, we cannot resolve anything without the participation of Ukraine, because the war is taking place on our territory, and therefore I am a little skeptical about this initiative”adds the Ukrainian president.
Volodymyr Zelensky affirme wait for security guarantees before considering any ceasefire.
“We must keep in mind what will happen tomorrow to create a ceasefire today, otherwise we will only freeze the conflict”he declares. “We want to end the war, we want peace, we want a stable peace and it goes without saying that Russia is not interested in that”.
Ukrainian president calls for help from the United States
Pour Volodymyr Zelensky, the ultimate security guarantee would be membership of NATO, European guarantees alone being, according to him, not “not enough for Ukraine”.
Earlier in the day, he called on the US and EU to remain united in their support for his country and said he hoped to have time to discuss “more detail of the war” with Donald Trump, when he returns to the White House on January 20.
“President Donald Trump is a strong man and I very much hope that he is on our side”he said.
The Ukrainian president was, however, less friendly with his Russian counterpart.
ADVERTISEMENT“I think he’s crazy, I really do. I think he thinks he’s crazy too”and declared by Volodymyr Zelensky. “He likes to kill, it’s very dangerous for everyone and I really want Donald Trump to help us end this war”.
The Ukrainian president also asked more air defense systemsparticularly to protect nuclear power plants and other energy infrastructure that Russia is deliberately targeting.
He also cited fighter jets, missiles, munitions and other weapons that the country desperately needs.
