Zelensky spoke about negotiations with Trump and Orban: mediators are not needed.

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated his intention to conduct direct negotiations with Donald Trump without the participation of mediators at the external and internal levels of the country.

He announced this during the meeting of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Local and Regional Authorities on Tuesday, December 17.

"I communicate with President Trump. We have had several meetings, conversations, mediators. I do not need other countries, various politicians who use this for PR," Zelensky emphasized.

The President of Ukraine also sharply criticized attempts at mediation by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He believes that Orban has no real influence on the aggressor state.

"Does anyone else in Europe have such experience now? No one. Does Orban have such an army? No. How will he pressure Putin? With a joke, a smile? Let him keep that to himself," the Ukrainian leader stressed.

The latest tensions in relations between Kyiv and Budapest arose after a recent phone call between Orban and Putin. The Hungarian Prime Minister suggested a Christmas truce and a large-scale exchange of prisoners of war, but Zelensky rejected this initiative.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto reported that Kyiv refused a phone call between Orban and Zelensky regarding the Hungarian initiative and expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of support for the idea of a "Christmas truce" among EU countries.