Fact-Check: Fake news article reporting Ukraine paid for arrival and stay of delegation in US goes viral.

A screenshot of a news article has gone viral on X claiming that Ukraine has to pay for the arrival and stay of the delegation in the USA. The Trump administration refused to cover the expenses of a foreign delegation for the first time as reported by Wall street Journal.

A user named Lord Bebo shared a screenshot on X and wrote: “TRUMP DID NOT PAY ZELENSKY’S HOTEL! Ukraine had to pay for the arrival and stay of the delegation in the USA. The Trump administration refused to cover the expenses of a foreign delegation for the first time, WSJ reports. Not only were they not fed and humiliated, but they also paid for it all at their own expense”.

Fact-Check

In the probe, the DFRAC found the claim to be fake. Wall Street Journal has published no such news article.

We searched for this news article on Google News, which concluded in the appearance of multiple news articles related to Trump & Zelensky’s spat, but no such article citing ‘Ukraine paid for the arrival and stay of its delegation in the US’ was found.

Furthermore, upon searching for this article in the search bar option of the official website, the Wall Street Journal, we found that this article or any other related news was not available on the website.

However, our brief investigation discovered that this article, along with the screenshot, has been published only by a Russian news website named Pravda. The article carried the same headline with the logo of WSJ.

Moreover, we found that this image of the fake article originated from a Telegram channel named Russian Head.

Apparently, the Wall Street Journal has not published this article.

Conclusion

It is evident from DFRAC’s fact-check that the news article alleging Ukraine has to pay for the arrival and stay of the delegation in the USA as reported by WSJ is completely fake. The article carrying the screenshot has been found on Russian news website Pravda with no credible source except a dubious telegram channel. WSJ or any other media outlet has not reported such news indeed.

Analysis: Fake