Zelensky calls Orbán's support for Russia a 'historic mistake'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the anti-Ukraine policies and messaging of right-wing populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as an "historic mistake."

In an interview with the Hungarian outlet Válasz Online published on Tuesday, Zelensky accused Orbán of using propaganda against Ukraine to seek a domestic political advantage.

"He is using Ukraine for his own electoral purposes," the Ukrainian president said. "He does not understand that this will have much more serious and dangerous consequences. By not helping us, he is doing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin a favour. That is why I said that Viktor is making a serious, historic mistake."

For weeks, Orbán's government has been running a billboard campaign against aid for Ukraine and opposing the country's accession to the European Union. The campaign's main message is that aid for Ukraine would drag Hungary into war and damage the economy.

The signs also feature portraits of Zelensky. "How can he use my face for his own election? I did not give him permission to do that!" Zelensky said.

Zelensky also recalled that in early May this year, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) arrested two Ukrainians of Hungarian ethnicity who are suspected of spying for the Hungarian military intelligence service KNBSZ. He said that further evidence had been found that has not yet been made public.

In response, Hungary arrested a spy allegedly working for Ukraine who is also close to Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó rejected the criticism, while confirming that Ukraine policy would be a central issue in Hungary's 2026 parliamentary elections.

Zelensky wants a "puppet government" in Hungary that sends money, soldiers, and weapons to Ukraine and "supports the war itself," Szijjártó said, according to the Hungarian state news agency MTI.

"The 2026 parliamentary elections will be about whether there will be a war-supporting, Ukraine-friendly puppet government or a national government that supports peace and Hungary's distance from the war," he added.

Hungary - an EU and NATO member state - is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections in early 2026. Orbán, who has been in power since 2010, is under pressure because Magyar's new conservative Tisza party is well ahead in the polls.