Fact Check: Did Zelenskyy ask young Americans to go to war against Russia?
Ananaya Sharma 2 min read
A video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asking American youths to fight the war against Russia is doing rounds on the Internet.
In this video, people are seen making allegations against Zelensky that he was seeking young Americans to go to war for NATO’s sake.
In the viral clip of Zelensky, he is speaking in his native language and its audio translation said: “The US will have to send their sons and daughters exactly the same way as we are sending our sons and daughters to war, and they will have to fight. Because it is NATO that we are talking about, and they will be dying. God forbid because it’s a horrible thing.”
A Facebook user shared the same video with the caption: “The War in Ukraine is now asking for the blood of American youth… Fighter jets, tanks, missiles, and even billions of tax dollars weren’t enough… Even as news comes.”
Source: Facebook
Similar claims have been made on other social media platforms.
Source: Twitter
Fact Check:
The DFRAC team investigated the claim with the help of specific keywords and found the full video of the press conference on the YouTube channel of DW News on February 24. The part where Zelenskyy spoke about non-supportive Americans appears around one-and-a-half hours into it.
On a question asked by the reporter, Zelensky began responding in his native language, the translator prompted his gratitude towards American officials for supporting them. He then criticised those opposing the “US favour”, saying: “I can tell them only one thing. If they do not change their opinion, if they do not understand us, if they do not support Ukraine, they will lose NATO. They will lose the clout of the United States, they will lose the leadership position they are enjoying in the world.”
Zelenskyy added, “They will lose the support of the country with 40 million of the population (Ukraine) with millions of children. Are American children any different from ours? Who wants a third World War? Would anyone be willing to accept that risk? The US is never going to give up on the NATO member states. If Ukraine loses, Russia is going to enter the Baltic states and NATO member states, and then the US will have to send their sons and daughters exactly the same way we are sending our 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 it because it’s a horrible thing.”
Conclusion:
On watching the entire video of the press conference, it is clear that Zelensky never asked Americans to fight the war, but he expressed fear that to save its clout and future war, the US has to favour Ukraine in its war against Russia.
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