Claim: In early 2025, Ukraine and Russia had reached a peace deal in their years-long war. Rating: About this rating False Context Claims of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia actually repeat key parts of a proposed U.S.-Ukraine agreement for sharing revenue from Ukraine’s natural assets, including minerals. This agreement is not a peace deal but would bring Americans to Ukraine and give the U.S. a vested interest in peace in the country.
On Feb. 25, 2025, amid reports of an imminent deal between the U.S. and Ukraine about access to Ukrainian minerals, claims (archived) circulated (archived) that Ukraine and Russia had reached a peace deal (archived) in the three-year war in Ukraine.
One X user wrote:
THERE IS IT!!! PEACE DEAL reached between Russia and Ukraine and Zelensky is flying to the USA to sign the deal made by President Trump. DETAILS:
– United States gets 50% of the revenue from Ukraine’s mineral wealth as repayment for money spent on the war
– No membership to NATO
– Ukraine concedes territory. Liberals… y’all go ahead and start crying but THIS S*** IS OVER!!!!
However, there were no credible reports at the time of this writing of an outright peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. Therefore, we rate this claim as false.
The claims did, however, contain elements of a proposed agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine for access to Ukraine’s minerals that may have been mistaken for a peace deal.
At the time of this writing, according to U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to fly to Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28 to sign the minerals agreement in person. The Ukrainian government approved the framework for the agreement on Feb. 26. This agreement was not billed as a peace deal but, if agreed upon, could be a stepping stone to a peace deal.
Meanwhile, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin also said Russia was open to negotiating U.S. access to minerals within Russia and Russian-controlled territories in Ukraine.
Proposed agreement sets up fund to invest Ukrainian natural asset revenue
On Feb. 26, both Ukrainian and international news outlets reported on a document, titled,
There’s no Ukraine-Russia peace deal – but a US-Ukraine minerals deal could be a stepping stone
