BUDAPEST, April 8. /TASS/. US Vice President JD Vance called Vladimir Zelensky’s threats to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban ahead of parliamentary elections preposterous.

"So, first of all, I wasn't even aware that Zelensky had said that he was going to send private soldiers to the prime minister's residence until yesterday Viktor actually told me that, and I then looked it up, almost couldn't believe it's true, but it's true. It's completely scandalous," the senior US official said in a speech in Budapest as he criticized Zelensky’s actions as outrageous and unacceptable.

In early March, Zelensky issued threats to Orban. Later, Grigory Omelchenko, a retired Security Council general, publicly threatened the Hungarian prime minister’s family. Kiev is trying to blackmail Budapest over the latter’s refusal to support Ukraine’s push to join the European Union or send military assistance to it.