Zelenskyy did not say US should send its ‘sons and daughters’ to fight for Ukraine
It shows him saying that Americans will have to send their “sons and daughters” to fight for Ukraine against Russia.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 3 March 2023 11:16 AM GMT
(Screengrab source: Twitter)
Hyderabad: A video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has gone viral on social media. It shows him saying that Americans will have to send their “sons and daughters” to fight for Ukraine against Russia.
Several Twitter users shared the video claiming Mr. Zelenskyy has demanded the US send its sons and daughters to fight for Ukraine. (Click here, here, and here to view more posts.)
(Screengrab source: Twitter)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the video is clipped and does not provide the full context.
We noticed the logo of The Telegraph in the viral video. Taking a cue from this, we looked for the video on its YouTube channel and found an over two-hour-long press conference of Mr. Zelenskyy live-streamed on 24 February. This video has the same setting and background as seen in the viral video.
According to the caption, the press conference was on the first anniversary of Ukraine’s war with Russia.
At around 1.37 hours, a press member is heard asking: “Mr. President, opinion polls in the United States suggest that a growing number of Americans believe that the US is giving too much support to Ukraine. What would your message be on the anniversary to those Americans?”
Mr. Zelenskyy responds by thanking Americans for their support and further explains the reasons for the United States to support Ukraine in the war against Russia. He adds that if the US doesn’t support Ukraine, they will lose NATO and clout over the world leadership.
From around 1.39 hours, he says, “…If it happens so that Ukraine loses, due to various opinions and weakening and depleting of assistance, Russia is going to enter Baltic states, NATO member states, and then the US 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 is NATO that we’re talking about, and they will be dying, god forbid, because it’s a horrible thing.”
From the above excerpt, it is evident that Mr. Zelenskyy is not asking US citizens to fight for Ukraine. He clearly states that if Ukraine loses, Russia will invade Baltic states and NATO member states and then Americans will have to send their sons and daughters to fight Russia.
The viral video is clipped and does not show the full context. Hence, we conclude that the viral video is misleading.
