Zelenskyy: Ukraine peace negotiations shouldn't revolve around Hungarian elections

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not believe that Budapest is the best venue for the peace talks previously agreed upon by US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban can do something positive for Ukrainians.

"I do not believe that Budapest is the best venue for this meeting. Of course, if it can bring peace, then it does not matter in which country the meeting will take place. But I must note that I gave enough of my time to meet with Mr. Witkoff (US President’s special envoy for the Middle East, Stephen Witkoff - IF-U) in Paris so that his idea about Hungary was, let’s say, restrained," Zelenskyy said during a meeting with journalists on Sunday.

According to the president, there were many "different worthy options" for the meeting venues, including Switzerland, Austria, the Vatican, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey.

"Because we are talking about peace in Ukraine, not about elections in Hungary. I do not believe that the prime minister, who is blocking Ukraine everywhere, can do anything positive for Ukrainians or at least something balanced," Zelenskyy said.

He added that in certain circles in the United States there is a mood that Russia is supposedly winning on the battlefield now, just as in other circles there is an opposite mood - Russia is not winning anything.

"It seems to me that among the people who constantly promote the idea of Russia’s supposedly unconditional advantages in this war, there is also the current prime minister of Hungary. And when we talk about mediation, I do not believe that the current prime minister of Hungary has, let’s say, an adequate attitude to this," Zelenskyy said.