Pro-Russian stance of Slovakia and Hungary is nonsense, Ukrainian official says

"They have become more pro-Russian - it is obvious. This is nonsense. Honestly, one of the key motivations of this war is Russia's attempt to dominate the European political and economic market. And Prime Ministers of Slovakia and Hungary going so openly into pro-Russian positions today is a bit strange to me," said Podolyak.

Both Hungary and Slovakia are currently part of a collective alliance – the European Union, he notes. And this union makes collective decisions regarding the war. And Podolyak says he doesn’t understand why any country would want to support Russia.

"Russia usually rejects international law, Russia attacks, aggressively attacks another sovereign state. Russia shows that it doesn't consider any restrictions, and so on. Even from the perspective of conducting a war, Russia demonstrates that it is ready to engage in any genocidal actions," Podolyak added.

"That’s why it’s strange when a country like Slovakia comes out and says, 'Let’s work with Russia after all.' Slovakia should come out and say: You know, we can't stay in the EU; we need to leave because we believe Russia is right."

"It's a bit strange. You have guarantees... Look, Hungary definitely understands that NATO will protect it. Hungary knows it can always get a large credit resource from the European Union. Slovakia understands this too. And at the same time, they say: 'Let them destroy Ukraine, why we should care, it’s neither NATO nor the EU.' Well, that's strange behavior," emphasized the advisor to the President’s Office.

Orbán's statements

Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán allegedly proposed a "ceasefire" for Christmas between Ukraine and Russia, but Kyiv, according to him, "refused."

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he did not want a ceasefire with Ukraine.

Orbán also proposed a "trick" to continue the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. More details - in the RBC-Ukraine article.