On Christmas Eve 1914, British and German soldiers laid down their arms and crossed trenches to exchange gifts, bury the fallen and even play football – a brief, poignant truce amid the horrors of the first world war. This week, Hungary’s Viktor Orban has tried to emulate that spirit of goodwill by proposing a symbolic Christmas ceasefire and a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. He called Vladimir Putin, talked to him for an hour, and then teamed up with the Kremlin to pin the blame on Volodymyr Zelensky for rejecting a Christmas truce. So, what really happened?
A ceasefire is the last thing Putin wants right now
A heated exchange started after Zelensky slammed Orban for discussing the war with Putin behind Ukraine’s back. He tagged the Hungarian PM on X and said: ‘We all hope that [Orban] at least won’t call Assad in Moscow to listen to his hour-long lectures as well.’
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