In mid-February 2025, Donald Trump multiplied his attacks against Volodymyr Zelensky, branding the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections,” questioning the use of American aid to Ukraine, and accusing him of “starting” the war. Here is a look back at these statements, which were false, misleading or unsubstantiated according to AFP’s analysis, revealing unprecedented tensions between Washington and Kyiv.

As reported by AP, the US president stated that it took Bessent a long time to arrive in Kyiv, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was reportedly sleeping and unavailable for a meeting. […] In fact, Zelensky met with Bessent for almost an hour on Feb. 12, as pictures posted on his presidential website confirmed. Zelensky did not sign the deal but promised to “review this document and do our best to ensure that our teams reach agreement very quickly.”

The claim was false. Truth Social has never been made available in Ukraine. When the app first launched in February 2022, it was available only in the U.S. and Canada. According to a March 2024 report by Ukrainian media watchdog Detector Media, the platform’s reach still remains limited to a few countries.

US President Donald Trump has sharply criticized his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in a rift between the two leaders as Kyiv remains locked in a three-year-old war started by a Russian invasion. However, claims that Zelensky retaliated by banning Truth Social are false — representatives for the social network said it had not launched in Ukraine, and the government there said Trump’s platform would be welcome.

Was the social media platform Truth Social blocked in Ukraine by the Ukrainian authorities? No, that’s not true: Truth Social and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s spokesperson denied the claim. Both said that the social media platform was never made available in Ukraine. Lead Stories found no credible reports corroborating the viral rumor.

Is Zelenskyy a dictator who is refusing to hold elections? Is Zelenskyy running low in the polls? Has the US spent $350 billion on Ukraine? Can Ukraine-attached spending explain the gap? Who has spent more on Ukraine: the USA or Europe?

Under the terms of Ukraine’s constitution, elections cannot be held while the country is under martial law (which was declared by Mr Zelensky in February 2022 following Russia’s invasion, and has been extended multiple times by Ukraine’s parliament).

Three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Euroverify has debunked a series of false claims made by US President Donald Trump.

Zelenskyy is not a ‘dictator’ with 4% approval rating The US does not provide Ukraine with more support than the EU Russia is deploying significant military resources in Ukraine

Under the terms of Ukraine’s constitution, elections cannot be held while the country is under martial law (which was declared by Mr Zelensky in February 2022 following Russia’s invasion, and has been extended multiple times by Ukraine’s parliament). Experts have also noted a number of practical obstacles to holding elections – around one-fifth of the country is currently occupied by Russia, millions of Ukrainians are displaced or serving on front lines, and there are security concerns.

While answering reporters’ questions about U.S. and Russian representatives meeting in Saudi Arabia without anyone from Ukraine present, the president said, “But today I heard, ‘Oh we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.” WMUR’s partners at PolitiFact looked into this statement. PolitiFact’s Lou Jacobson joins to examine the claims.

Preisdent Donald Trump told reporters that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky treated out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “rudely” when he traveled to the capital of Ukraine and didn’t even meet with him. But then photos of the two men meeting were posted online, contradicting Trump’s story.

How common is it for democracies to postpone elections during wartime? Under the terms of Ukraine’s constitution, elections cannot be held while the country is under martial law (which was declared by Mr Zelensky in February 2022 following Russia’s invasion, and has been extended multiple times by Ukraine’s parliament). Experts have also noted a number of practical obstacles to holding elections – around one-fifth of the country is currently occupied by Russia, millions of Ukrainians are displaced or serving on front lines, and there are security concerns.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US has been the country providing the largest amount of assistance to Ukraine in cash terms. However, it’s not clear what the figures of $300 billion or $350 billion are based on, and these figures have been widely questioned.

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. Audited records of Congressionally appropriated Ukrainian aid show most of what USAID manages is Kyiv’s government budget, which funds its public sector workers, social services, pensions, and internally displaced persons. For the $140 million claim to have been true, USAID would have had to have paid out more to this “Psychological Warfare” center than most of its actual spending obligations. The image used to support the claim was based on a nonexistent article, edited from a real but unrelated story by Fox News, not about Ukraine. The claim appeared on Russian Telegram accounts before it was spread widely by English-speaking commentators on X, formerly Twitter.

US President Donald Trump has sharply criticized his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in a rift between the two leaders as Kyiv remains locked in a three-year-old war started by a Russian invasion. However, claims that Zelensky retaliated by banning Truth Social are false — representatives for the social network said it had not launched in Ukraine, and the government there said Trump’s platform would be welcome.

Indeed, can confirm. And I was standing right beside where this photograph was taken. And then I stood 10 feet from both Zelensky and Bessent inside the presidential office again an hour or so later, when they emerged from their meeting to brief a small group of reporters.

After U.S. and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia to discuss an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump made several false and misleading statements about the conflict and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump falsely claimed that Ukraine had “started” the war with Russia, saying the country could have made a “deal.” Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He inflated the amount of U.S. aid for Ukraine and wrongly said the U.S. gave “$200 billion more than Europe.” Aid from Europe is higher than that from the U.S. Trump distorted comments Zelenskyy made to claim that the Ukrainian president “admits that half of the money that we sent them is missing.” A Trump administration official has said the U.S. tracks the money. Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and misleadingly said that he “refuses” to have elections. Because of the war, the country is under martial law and can’t have an election, according to Ukrainian law.

Some GOP lawmakers distanced themselves from Trump’s statements calling Zelensky a “dictator without elections” and blaming Ukraine for the war