BUDAPEST, December 21. /TASS/. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban believes that what Russia is doing in Ukraine can rightly be called a special military operation, as there has been no declaration of war between the two countries.

Journalists asked the Hungarian prime minister at a press conference why he used the term "military operation" rather than "war" when referring to Russia’s actions on Ukrainian territory at his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on October 17. "It is a military operation because there has been no declaration of war between the two countries. Let's be happy that there is no war yet. Because if there is a war, there is a general mobilization, and I don't wish that on anyone," Orban explained.

"Sometimes I will call it a war, sometimes a military operation, whatever you like," the prime minister added.