A short clip of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussing U.S. support to Ukraine and repercussions should Russia invade a NATO member state has been taken out of context online with the false suggestion that he was calling for U.S. troops to fight on the ground in Ukraine.
The 19-second clip shared online originates from a 2-hour news briefing delivered by Zelenskiy on Feb. 24, marking the first anniversary of the full-scale war.
In the short video, Zelenskiy can be seen speaking into a hand-held microphone. A translator can be heard saying: “The U.S. will have to send their sons and daughters, exactly the same way as we are sending their sons and daughters to war, and they will have to fight because it’s NATO that we’re talking about. And they will be dying, God forbid, because it’s a horrible thing.”
Some used the clip to say that the Ukrainian president was calling for U.S. troops to join Ukrainian forces on the ground.
Examples of the clip shared online can be viewed (here) and (here).
Part of one post reads, “Zelensky is demanding American sons and daughters fight and die for Ukraine,” while another says, “Ukraine needs fresh young Americans to help fight on the ground war.”
A longer clip of Zelenskiy’s comments provides full context, however, and shows the president was responding to a question posed by Ian Pannell, chief foreign correspondent for ABC News, on U.S. support to Ukraine (bit.ly/3ELjqTs).
Pannell asked (timestamp: 1.37.49): “Mister President, opinion polls in the United States are suggesting that a growing number of Americans believe that the U.S. is giving too much support to Ukraine. What would your message be on the anniversary to those Americans? Thank you.”
Zelenskiy, via the translator, responded by first thanking “all the American people that are supporting Ukraine” (timestamp: 1.37.59s). He subsequently states that the number of Americans who view that the U.S. is providing too much support for Ukraine is increasing.
Later, Zelensky can be heard saying what he believes could happen should Ukraine lose the war with Russia (timestamp: 1.40.15s): “The U.S. is never going to give up on the NATO member states. If it happens so that Ukraine, due to various opinions, and weakening and depleting of assistance, loses, Russia is going to enter Baltic states, NATO member states, and then the U.S. will have to send their sons and daughters exactly the same way as we are sending their sons and daughters to war, and they will have to fight because it’s NATO that we are talking about. And they will be dying, God forbid, because it’s a horrible thing. I wish peace and Ukrainian support to the United States.”
A Reuters livestream of the full conference uploaded on Feb. 24 can be seen (bit.ly/3ELjqTs).
A Reuters/IPSOS poll conducted in February found support among Americans for providing military assistance to Ukraine has fallen to 58 percent, a 15% drop from the 73% who supported the transfer of military aid to Ukraine in an April 2022 poll (here).
A spokesperson for Zelenskiy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
VERDICT
Missing context. Zelenskiy was discussing the repercussions should Russia invade a NATO member state if Ukraine loses the war, not calling for U.S. troops to join the current war in Ukraine.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.
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