Latest fact checks & sources

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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).

Open civil society letter: Elections in Ukraine must be held only after sustainable peace is achieved, ensuring a free, fair, and democratic process that reflects the will of the people.

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?

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.

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.

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.

False. 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.

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.”

In his remarks, Zelensky went on to say that he knew a large part of U.S. aid came not in direct funds but in the forms of weapons, training, humanitarian programs and in other areas. He said: “I don’t know where all this money is.” Trump appeared to take the comment as an admission that the money was lost. But while Zelensky said he did not know exactly how it was spent, his understanding appeared to comport with U.S. accounting that shows a large share went to activities carried out to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including within the United States.

In remarks and social media posts, the president echoed Russian talking points. […] Here’s an assessment of Trump’s misleading statements on Ukraine in recent days.

Attacks by US President Donald Trump on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky have deepened a crisis between the two leaders as Ukraine’s war with Russia approaches its third anniversary. AFP fact checked some of the statements by the US leader.

Claim: Zelenskyy started the war in Ukraine with Russia. Claim: Zelenskyy is a dictator. Claim: Zelenskyy has a 4% approval rating. Claim: The U.S. spent $350 billion to help Ukraine. Claim: Zelenskyy said he doesn’t know where half of the money the U.S. has given Ukraine went. Claim: Zelenskyy was “sleeping and unavailable” to meet Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett during a Feb. 12 Kyiv visit.

As reported before, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived in Kyiv on 12 February to discuss economic partnership with Ukraine and met with Zelenskyy during his visit.