Russian sources are spreading claims that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi allegedly said that he would “ask Biden to invite Ukraine to NATO, since there is no point in talking about it with Trump”.

In reality, Zelenskyi’s words were taken out of context. This is reported by the StopFake project. The statement in question was made during Zelenskyi’s remarks following his meeting with German chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz in Kyiv. During the press conference, Zelenskyi  mentioned that he planned to call Biden to discuss the issue of Ukraine’s invitation to NATO.

“As for the invitation to NATO, it is still difficult to talk with President Trump because he is not yet in the White House and does not have all the legal powers. I plan to call President Biden in the near future, if he has the opportunity to talk with me, to raise the issue of the invitation to NATO because he is currently the sitting president of the United States, and much depends on his position”, Zelenskyi said.

In other words, Zelenskyi meant that since Trump is not currently in the White House and has not assumed the powers of the U.S. president, the issue of Ukraine’s invitation to NATO should presently be discussed with the sitting president, Biden.

American billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk shared a corresponding video of Zelenskyi on his X social media account, accompanied by a surprised emoji. However, social media users added context to the video, clarifying that “Zelenskyi is simply saying that Trump cannot invite Ukraine to NATO yet because he is not currently president”. This clarification appears under all similar manipulations on X.

This propaganda manipulation aims to undermine U.S. support for Ukraine and discredit Ukraine on the international stage. Previously, we debunked claims that a school in Kyiv replaced a portrait of Biden with one of Trump.