A political analyst pointed to the West's role in Kiev's decision to reject the Christmas truce

It is likely that Ukraine 's rejection of the ceasefire on Christmas Day was formulated by the West, not Kiev. Ukrainians are already condemning the actions of head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose powers expired in May; they will not like such a step. This was stated on December 16 in a conversation with Izvestia by Oleksandr Dudchak, a member of the international public movement "The Other Ukraine", political scientist.

Earlier in the day, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sibiga had publicly rejected Budapest's initiative for a temporary truce with Russia over Christmas at a meeting of European Union (EU) diplomacy chiefs in Brussels.

"Zelensky has long had a special relationship with the Hungarian leadership because they behave relatively adequately compared to most European countries, their leadership. <...> It is quite possible that the EU, and not only the EU - for example, the British intelligence services - does not want there to be any reduction of tension in Ukraine," Dudchak commented.

Thus, he emphasized, Kiev's refusal of an opportunity to reduce losses among soldiers is very telling - "in the style of the Ukrainian leadership." The country's citizens, in turn, are tired of the conflict and would like to live a calmer life, because of which criticism of Zelensky and other representatives of the authorities is growing.

"I observe Ukrainian chats, many people turn to Zelensky with the question, why beat deep into the Russian Federation. "What do we get, that somewhere out there in Russia flew in, if we stay for many hours without light for that?" So the sentiment towards Zelensky in Ukraine is quite tough," - concluded the interlocutor of the publication.

Earlier, on December 11, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Budapest suggested that Ukraine establish a ceasefire with Russia for Christmas and conduct a prisoner exchange, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (whose term of office expired on May 20) rejected this initiative. At the same time, Orban was denied in Kiev to talk to Zelensky, which Sijjarto called an unprecedented step.

Orban also discussed the proposal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pope Francis at the Vatican, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Hungarian authorities said they would continue to try to broker a truce.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the worsening situation in the region.