Fact-checking Donald Trump’s claims about Zelenskyy and the war in Ukraine

Donald Trump has stunned European leaders with a series of controversial claims about the war in Ukraine and the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The US president’s remarks, which include accusing Ukraine of starting the war, have been widely disputed – with Mr Zelenskyy himself saying Mr Trump is living in a “disinformation bubble”.

As Western leaders consider how to respond Mr Trump’s comments, we take a look at whether they are accurate or not.

Trump refers to Zelenskyy as a ‘dictator’

In a scathing post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, Mr Trump called Mr Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections”.

He added that Mr Zelenskky “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left”.

Mr Trump said the US was “successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia” and claimed that this is something that “all admit” only his administration can achieve.

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Fact-checked:

Mr Zelenskyy was democratically elected the president of Ukraine in May 2019, winning the second round – between the two top candidates from the first round of counting – with 73% of the vote.

According to Ukrainian law, the election of the President of Ukraine must take place on the last Sunday of March of the fifth year of the term of the incumbent president

As per that law, a general election was scheduled to go ahead in Ukraine in 2024, but it was not held because of martial law being in place due to the war.

Ukrainian law prohibits parliamentary or presidential elections during a state of martial law – when the civilian government is replaced by military rule.

For context, both the UK and Canada extended their parliament terms in the First World War, effectively delaying elections.

Mr Zelenskyy has vowed to hold an election once the war is over.

Zelenskky’s ‘poor approval rating’

In a speech after senior US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Mr Trump said Mr Zelenskyy has a 4% approval rating among voters in Ukraine.

The US president said at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida: “We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down to 4% approval rating.”

The world’s richest man Elon Musk, who has been chosen by Mr Trump to head the new US Department of Government Efficiency, also suggested Mr Zelenskyy has a poor approval rating.

He wrote on X: “If Zelenskyy was actually loved by the people of Ukraine, he would hold an election. He knows he would lose in a landslide, despite having seized control of ALL Ukrainian media, so he cancelled the election.”

Fact-checked:

Mr Trump did not give an indication of where he obtained his 4% figure for Mr Zelenskyy’s approval rating.

Official polling is limited due to the war, however the Ukraine-based Kyiv International Institute of Sociology has conducted a survey which found the Ukrainian president had a 57% “trust” rating as of February 2025.

That is down from a high of 90% in May 2022, shortly after Russia launched its invasion.

The recent survey of 1,000 people was carried out by calling randomly selected phone numbers in areas of Ukraine currently under the government’s control, according to the institute.

Commenting on the results, the institute’s executive director, Anton Hrushetskyi said: “If some international partners and allies are worried about the legitimacy of the president in the context of possible peace negotiations and consider it appropriate to insist on elections, then from the point of view of Ukrainian citizens themselves, there are no problems with this.”

Ukraine ‘started the war’ with Russia

In his speech at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, the US president appeared to blame Ukraine for the war and said Kyiv had a “seat (at the table) for three years and a long time before that”.

He added: “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”

Fact-checked:

Since 2014, Russia has twice invaded and annexed territory belonging to Ukraine.

Five days before Russian troops rolled into Ukraine in 2022, and with Russian troops amassing at the borders, Mr Zelenskyy said in remarks directed at Moscow: “We are ready to sit down and speak… What’s the point of us shooting and proposing diplomacy at the same time?”

The origins of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine date back to 2014 and what is known as the Maidan Revolution, the Ukrainian Revolution, or sometimes the Revolution of Dignity.

Then-president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted following months of protests over his government’s decision to reject closer ties with Europe in favour of building closer relations with Moscow.

Russia labelled this a “coup” and accused the West of orchestrating it. Moscow also railed against the idea that Ukraine’s now Western-facing government might one day join NATO.

In response to the revolution, pro-Russian, and Moscow-backed, separatists seized government buildings in eastern areas of the country, while Russia sent its own troops and annexed Crimea in March 2014 – in violation of international law.

A conflict – named the Donbas War – followed between Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian, Moscow-backed separatists in the east.

Despite attempts to negotiate an end to that conflict, it continued until February 2022, when Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At the time, and still today, Moscow claimed it was conducting a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine – but Russian troops also attacked from the north towards the capital Kyiv before retreating.

Russia announced the annexation of four eastern areas of Ukraine in 2022 – an action which has been widely rejected by the international community.

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Trump claims US has given more financial aid to Ukraine than Europe

Earlier this week, the US president claimed America had given Ukraine at least $200bn (£158bn) more than Europe has since Russia invaded the country in February 2022.

Mr Trump said: “I think Europe has given $100bn (£79n)… and we’ve given, let’s say, $300bn (£237bn) plus.”

Fact-checked:

There are a number of figures available for the amount of money being given to Ukraine by different countries.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker shows that countries in Europe have allocated a total of €132bn (£109bn or $139bn) in help for Ukraine.

The tracker shows the US has allocated around €114bn (£95bn or $120bn).

There is also a debate about how much money countries say they have given to Ukraine has actually gone to the country itself.

According to The Washington Post, some of the money given by Washington includes sending money through “drawdowns” from US weapon stockpiles and money to pay US-based defence contractors for equipment.

Russia wants to stop the war

Following Tuesday’s meeting in Saudi Arabia, Mr Trump appeared to suggest Moscow is keen to end the conflict.

He said: “(The talks) were very good. Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.”

Fact-checked:

Russia currently occupies around one-fifth of Ukraine.

However, intelligence from the US and close allies shows that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to control all of the country, four Western intelligence officials and two US congressional officials told Sky’s US partner network NBC News.

“We have zero intelligence that Putin is interested in a real peace deal right now,” one of the congressional officials said.

Mr Putin has also previously dismissed the idea that Ukraine is a separate country, saying that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people” and that modern Ukraine as a country was created “wholly and fully by Bolshevik Russia”.

However, at least outwardly, Russia has signalled that it is interested in holding talks to end the war, beginning with US and Russian delegates meeting in Saudi Arabia this week.