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| - Fact Check: Did Zelenskyy ask young Americans to go to war against Russia? Viral video clipped out of context
A video of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy asking American youths to fight the war against Russia has gone viral. But did he actually say that? Find out the truth behind the video.
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India Today Fact Check
This clip was clipped out of context. Zelenskyy was referring to the consequences of Ukraine losing the war.
A year of deaths and destruction has passed since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Shortly before the one-year anniversary of the war, US President Joe Biden visited Kyiv. Now, a video of the Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has been shared widely on social media with some shocking allegations.
Those sharing the video said that Zelenskyy sought young Americans to help fight on the ground war. The short clip featured Zelenskyy speaking and the audio was that of a translator. The 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's NATO that we are talking about, and they will be dying. God forbid because it's a horrible thing."
The archived version of such a post can be seen here.
AFWA's investigation found that the viral part of Zelensky's speech was clipped out of context. He was referring to the consequences of Ukraine losing the war.
AFWA PROBE
Upon searching online for the relevant quote, we found a report by the Russian state-controlled international news network RT from February 25, 2023. The headline read, "Zelensky threatens unsupportive Americans."
Per this report, Zelenskyy allegedly threatened Americans who were against the US's support for Ukraine. The report said that while responding to a journalist, Zelenskyy allegedly urged the United States during a press conference to keep supporting the nation and stressed that the US would lose its influence over the world if it stopped backing Kyiv.
But, did he seek fresh young Americans to help fight the war?
We searched again with relevant 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.
A reporter sought Zelenskyy's response to an opinion poll in the United States that suggested a growing number of Americans had started to believe that the US government had provided "too much" support to Ukraine.
As Zelenskyy 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."
NATO or The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states — 28 European and two North American. Ukraine, while not a part of NATO, has received its support since the Russian invasion began. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently said that Ukraine will become a member in the “long term”, but also stressed that the immediate issue at hand was Ukraine staying an independent nation from Russia.
Thus, watching the original press address by Zelenskyy makes it clear that he never sought young Americans to fight the war in Ukraine. On the contrary, he was expressing fears that America might have to face a similar situation if Ukraine lost the war against Russia.
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