Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of launching a direct attack on Hungary, after the Ukrainian leader gave his first interview to the Hungarian press since Russia's full-scale invasion began. Speaking to Valasz Online, Zelenskiy said Orban was seeking to exploit the war "unfairly" for his own political gain and making a "historic mistake" with the anti-Ukraine campaign.

The Hungarian leader echoed those sentiments on Facebook, writing that "President Zelenskiy has gone after us because Hungarians don't want to die for Ukraine." The post, which referenced the prime minister's Pentecost Monday speech at a far-right rally, added: "We don't want our children coming home in coffins from the front, or for Hungarian money to be sent to Ukraine."

Hungary has repeatedly blocked or delayed EU military and financial aid packages for Ukraine, including portions of the European Peace Facility and macro-financial support, forcing EU leaders to work around Budapest through bilateral channels. The government continues to frame itself as the sole voice of peace in Europe, positioning Hungary against what it calls "pro-war elites" in Brussels and Washington.

The government has escalated the campaign against Ukraine with a new non-binding referendum on the country's EU accession. Orban said the fast-tracked accession would not only lead to an economic collapse but would force the government to raise taxes or scrap pension payments. As the government shifted into full campaign mode, billboards vilifying Zelenskiy appeared throughout Hungarian cities. 

When asked about the ongoing campaign, the Ukrainian president said he had told Orban during their first meeting that he is making a serious mistake.

"He does not understand that this will have much more serious and dangerous consequences, the radicalisation of Hungarian society and its anti-Ukrainianism. By not helping us, he is doing Putin a favour", he added.

He also revealed new details about Orban’s controversial visit to Kyiv last July, followed almost immediately by a trip to Moscow. "He came to see me, talked about how to end the war, and then travelled to Russia." "Did the Russians know? Almost certainly. He didn’t just decide on a whim to go to Moscow after meeting me. He knew what he was doing," Zelenskiy said. 

Tensions between the two countries have further increased following an announcement by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) on May 9 that it had uncovered a Hungarian spy network operating in western Ukraine, home to a sizeable ethnic Hungarian population, while Budapest has also accused Kyiv of operating spies inside Hungary this year.

In the interview, Zelenskiy said Budapest had engaged in multiple attempts to meddle in Ukraine's internal affairs. He claimed Ukrainian authorities had obtained extensive documentation, photos, videos and payment records, indicating that Hungary's Military National Security Service (KNBSZ) had built an agent network.

While Kyiv had previously dealt with most such incidents through back-channels, Zelenskiy said the decision to go public this time was deliberate, hinting that more material could be released unless the operations ceased. "I'm not threatening anyone," he added, "but everything is in our possession," he said, referring to evidence.

"We know how the agent was paid. We documented everything. The Hungarian network has been built since 2021, and military-related questions were raised in 2024-2025. The last data transfer took place on March 25."

The Ukrainian president also questioned whether Hungary's actions had any NATO backing. "I asked NATO officials if they had requested this kind of intelligence-gathering by Hungary," he said. "They said no."

Zelenskiy rejected the notion that Orban's position reflects the will of the Hungarian people. "There's a difference between Hungary and Russia," he said. "In Russia, Putin's stance is society's stance. In Hungary, Orban's is not."

After the release of the interview, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto accused Zelenskiy of wanting a "puppet government" in Hungary to ensure continued financial support from Budapest to Kyiv, framing the interview as part of what he called an "aggressive anti-Hungarian propaganda campaign."

Gergely Huth, editor-in-chief of Pesti Sracok (a reference to the young heroes of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising), a staunchly pro-Orban and pro-Kremlin outlet, went as far as accusing Valasz Online journalist Szabolcs Voros of treason for conducting the interview.