Trump's reaction to Orbán's proposal for Ukraine-Russia truce
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian leader Vladimir Putin (photo: Getty Images)
US President-elect Donald Trump's team does not disclose details of their interactions with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. After meeting with Trump, Orbán called Vladimir Putin, CBS News quotes Trump's future advisor Mike Waltz.
Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan asked Waltz, who was at Trump's residence when Orbán visited, whether the US president-elect had asked the Hungarian prime minister to convey a message to Putin. In particular, regarding the “Christmas truce” that Orbán had recently allegedly offered to Russia and Ukraine.
The future Trump adviser tried to avoid a direct answer, saying that Orbán regularly communicates with Russian representatives and has good relations with the US president-elect. However, the host did not back down and asked again whether Trump had conveyed a message to Putin through Orbán.
“This is World War I style warfare. It is a meat grinder of human beings. President Trump's been very concerned about the carnage that's ongoing. And where is this all going? We need to stop the fighting. And, you know, look, if that is some type of ceasefire as a first step, again, we'll take a hard look at what that means. But until January 20, we are also in coordination with this current administration,” Waltz answered the question.
But when the host asked for the third time if there was a message that Trump was trying to convey through Orbán, he said he was not going to go into details.
“I'm not going to get into specifics of back and forths. But, one is talking, of course, we're going to continue to talk, and President Trump's made it clear he wants this war to stop,” Waltz summarized.
Orbán's call to Putin
This week, Orbán unexpectedly called the Russian leader after meeting with Trump. The Ukrainian authorities reacted to this conversation with criticism, to which the Hungarian prime minister said that Kyiv had allegedly abandoned the “Christmas truce” that Budapest had allegedly agreed with Moscow.
In response, Ukrainian presidential communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said that Hungary had not warned Ukraine about contacts with Russia, nor had it discussed any peace initiatives. Moreover, Kyiv did not authorize Budapest to act as its mediator.
