However, while the West's indecisive and dithering approach to the Ukrainian crisis may certainly warrant criticism, especially from the standpoint of the Ukrainians, there are ample grounds on which to contest the narrative that NATO has reneged on any of its formal obligations towards Russia under international law or provoked Russia by breaking a "gentleman's agreement" entered into with the Russian state.
Russia itself has not stopped attacking Ukraine's energy and civilian infrastructure for a single day - neither after Zelenskyy's promise to stop such attacks, nor after Putin's conversation with Donald Trump, during which the Russian leader supposedly ordered a halt to attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. After the alleged 'agreement to stop strikes', Russia continues to launch more than a hundred attack drones into Ukraine every day, targeting energy facilities, among other targets. The most massive attacks after the agreement between Putin and Trump were Russian strikes on the regions of Kropyvnytskyi, Odesa, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, Sumy and Kyiv regions.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says Vladimir Putin has broken 25 peace agreements in the past decade
Three decades after the end of the Cold War, one of Russia's most persistent falsehoods is gaining new traction in Western debate: the claim that NATO's eastward expansion provoked Russia's war against Ukraine.
Verdict: Misleading.
While the video does show Putin discussing a ceasefire in relation to the Russia-Ukraine War, it is not recent but from June 2024.
Did a video circulating on social media show Russian President Vladimir Putin making a public statement about Russia's terms for a ceasefire in Ukraine in March 2025? No, that's not true: The clip had been online for nine months. It showed Putin's remarks from June 2024.
WHAT WAS CLAIMED: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and a journalist had an exchange about the impending peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
OUR VERDICT: Fake: No such exchange on diplomacy and Russia's concessions took place between Hegseth and a reporter in a press briefing after a NATO defense ministers' meeting on Feb. 13.
Claim: On Feb. 28, 2025, before a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Democrats who convinced him to reject a deal that would allow the U.S. to exploit minerals in Ukraine in exchange for U.S. support in Ukraine's war with Russia.
Rating: Mixture.
What's True: Zelenskyy did meet with Democratic U.S. senators ...
What's False: ... but that meeting also included at least three Republican senators. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, emphatically rejected claims that the Democrats of the U.S. Senate delegation had dissuaded Zelenskyy from taking the minerals deal. Further, Zelenskyy confirmed to reporters two days after the meeting that his country was ready to accept the deal.
Did Ukraine start its war with Russia, as President Donald Trump said? No, Russia invaded
Media outlets worldwide covered Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged it as a "special military operation," saying the offensive would "seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine."
For years, Russia has sought to blame Ukrainian actions for its invasion.
False.
Tracking of Congressional spending on Ukraine shows it has appropriated nearly $183 billion since Russia's invasion. Analysis has shown that some of this funding ends up back in the United States, to restock weapons and defense supplies domestically that the U.S. has given to Kyiv. Some funding has not gone directly to Ukraine but to NATO defense partners.