Russian propaganda spreads fake news claiming Zelensky-Trump meeting 'cost' Ukraine $4-7M

Russian propaganda outlets have circulated a video falsely attributed to the American news agency Bloomberg. The video claims that the Ukrainian delegation had to cover the costs of their visit to Washington on February 28 due to alleged disputes between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump. According to the fabricated report, the supposed source of this information is Howard Hu, a professor of Hospitality Management at Southern Utah University. The propagandists cite him as saying that Ukraine spent between $4 million and $7 million on the visit, whereas under Joe Biden's administration, such expenses were covered by the U.S. budget.

This claim is false. No such video exists on Bloomberg's official website or its social media platforms.

The video was artificially compiled using various unrelated images found online, including publicly available photos of Zelensky with Joe Biden. Additionally, the propagandists used a picture of Howard Hu taken from the official website of Southern Utah University, as well as an image from a promotional brochure of the institution.

Moreover, Russian and Vietnamese media, along with bots on Chinese social networks, have circulated a screenshot of a supposed news article from The Wall Street Journal. The fake article claims that the Ukrainian delegation was forced to cover all costs of their visit to the U.S., marking the first time the Trump administration allegedly refused to finance a foreign delegation's expenses.

This, too, is false. Spanish fact-checkers from Maldita and several European journalists have debunked the claim, confirming that The Wall Street Journal never published such a report on its website or social media. Journalists also pointed out that the source of this disinformation is a Russian English-language media outlet.

This fake news is part of a broader effort to discredit the Ukrainian government and President Zelensky, particularly in light of the incident that occurred in the Oval Office on February 28.

Previously, Russian propaganda spread false claims about the alleged purchase of a luxury apartment in Warsaw by the son of Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.

Andriy Olenin