It is not true that Zelensky shouted at Bessent, claiming the Minerals Deal is exploitative

At no point did Zelensky yell at the US Treasury Secretary who traveled to Kyiv to present and deliver the Minerals Deal offered by the US. It is true that Zelensky rejected the deal, but he did not call it exploitative or compare it to the conditions imposed on Germany after World War I. It is obvious that the post has the intentions to manipulate and misinform in order to defame the Ukrainian president

 

We analyze a Facebook post on the social network Threads that says:

A furious Zelensky “shouted” at Trump’s MP after the latter made him sign a $500 billion deal.

The post shares an article which at the beginning states:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed strong displeasure with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over a proposed deal that would have required Ukraine to hand over a significant portion of its natural resources in exchange for security guarantees from the US. Zelensky has described the deal as exploitative, comparing it to the terms imposed on Germany after World War I. The incident has sparked tensions between Kyiv and Washington.

Zelensky met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv on February 12, 2025.

The article also shares a video of the meeting, which is supposedly supposed to be some kind of proof that Zelensky shouted at Trump’s MP, who was making him sign a $500 billion deal, as the post claims.

However, there is no such thing in the video. At no point does Zelensky yell at Bessent, nor does he shout at him, but instead thanks him for the efforts of the United States and US President Donald Trump to achieve peace in Ukraine.

I am grateful to the President for his messages that he will support Ukraine and that he really wants to stop this war. And I know that he is a strong man, and I am confident that he will push Putin, Zelensky said. 

In the video, it can even be seen that Zelensky speaks with a smile on his face, and a pleasant response follows from Bessent. So there is no tension or shouting in the recording, as the post we are analyzing claims.

Bessent did not force Zelensky to sign any agreement, but presented him with the Minerals Deal prepared by the US administration. As stated on the official website of the President of Ukraine,  during the meeting, Zelensky and Bessent discussed Ukraine’s resource potential and economic security guarantees for Ukrainians. In particular, they addressed the preparation of a document on economic partnership between Ukraine and the United States.

We will review this document and do our best to ensure that our teams reach agreement very quickly. We are eager to do so because the United States is our strategic partner. We will do everything to go over all the details, Zelensky emphasized.

The agreement was submitted to Zelensky for review and his input. If both parties were in agreement, the document would be signed. However, the post suggests an exaggerated scene where Bessent allegedly forced Zelensky into signing something, with the Ukrainian president supposedly shouting at him. This is entirely inaccurate and did not happen during the meeting.

Zelensky refused to sing the agreement, but at no point did he say that the agreement was “exploitative” or compare it to the conditions imposed on Germany after World War I, as the post states.

Our teams will continue to work on the document. We are ready to move as quickly as possible towards a real and guaranteed peace. We deeply value President Trump’s determination, which can help stop the war and secure justice and security guarantees for Ukraine, Zelensky wrote on X, Radio Free Europe reported.

Two or three days later The Telegraph published excerpts of the draft agreement that the US had prepared as early as February 7th. One domestic media outlet detailed the text with the headline: “Trump wants to colonize Ukraine,” accompanied by a subtitle that read: “Trump’s demands are more severe than the financial penalties imposed on Germany and Japan after their defeat in 1945—and exceed the reparations imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles.”

Therefore, comments stating the agreement is exploitative and that Trump’s demands are worse than the financial penalties imposed on Germany and Japan after their defeat in 1945 did emerge, however, not from Zelensky, but across media outlets.

Finally, Zelensky’s meeting with US Treasury Secretary in Kyiv did not cause any tensions between Ukraine and the US and there was no incident at that meeting, as the post wants to portray. The post was probably referring to the meeting between Zelensky and Trump in Kyiv. That meeting was tense and caused tensions between the two countries.

To conclude, at no point did Zelensky yell at the US Treasury Secretary who traveled to Kyiv to present and deliver the Minerals Deal offered by the US. It is true that Zelensky rejected the deal, but he did not call it exploitative or compare it to the conditions imposed on Germany after World War I. It is obvious that the post has the intentions to manipulate and misinform in order to defame the Ukrainian president.

 

Due to the aforementioned, we assess the analyzed post as untrue.

 

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