Fact check: How many countries have ratified the 2025 peace treaties as of 2025?

1. Two competing tallies — a clear contradiction that matters

The core factual conflict in the provided materials is simple: one analysis states 15 ratifications with Israel joining in January 2025, while another asserts 18 ratifications with Costa Rica acceding by March 2025; both cite the same international instrument by name, the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation ^{[1] [2]}. This divergence is important because it changes the standing picture of international uptake by roughly 20 percent, and the discrepancy could arise from differing definitions (e.g., signature vs. ratification vs. accession), reporting cut-off dates, or simple chronological updates. The two items are dated in April 2025 but report on earlier events, creating potential timeline overlap ^{[1] [2]}.

2. The primary sources cited – similar topics, different claims

Both items explicitly link their counts to the same treaty instrument, suggesting they are reporting on the same process yet reaching different totals ^{[1] [2]}. The April 22 and April 29 2025 publication timestamps on the analyses indicate contemporaneous reporting windows, but the internal statements reference actions in January and March 2025 respectively, which implies sequential developments could explain part of the gap if ratifications occurred between those months ^{[1] [2]}. The materials do not list the full roster of States Parties, so neither piece offers a rosters-based verification within the supplied dataset, leaving the two headline counts uncorroborated by primary treaty depositary records in the provided corpus ^{[1] [2]}.

3. What the other supplied materials add — absence is informative

A set of additional documents in the collection do not mention the convention or claim counts at all; they instead address thematic issues in peacemaking, UN peacekeeping, and geopolitical shifts, and were published in September 2025 (p2_s1–p3_s3). Their silence on any distinct “2025 peace treaties” process suggests either that no widely recognized multilateral instrument called “2025 peace treaties” exists in this corpus, or that coverage of such a process is missing from the provided materials (p2_s1–p3_s3). This absence underscores that the only direct numerical claims available relate to the mediation convention and therefore any answer about “2025 peace treaties” must either equate that phrase with the mediation convention or acknowledge insufficient evidence.

4. Possible explanations for the numeric gap between 15 and 18

Three plausible, evidence-consistent explanations reconcile the discrepancy: first, timing—ratifications may have increased from 15 in January to 18 by March 2025, meaning the two reports capture different snapshots ^{[1] [2]}. Second, terminology differences—one report might count only formal ratifications while the other counts accessions or instrument depositions, which are legally equivalent but reported differently in some outlets ^{[1] [2]}. Third, reporting error or editorial framing could account for conflicting tallies; neither item includes a complete party list to enable independent reconciliation within the supplied dataset ^{[1] [2]}.

5. Assessing source reliability and potential agendas

Both items appear as brief factual updates about ratification events; however, the limited metadata and absence of full depositary records mean each should be treated cautiously. The two reports originate close in time and may reflect routine institutional press releases or short-form news items, which sometimes emphasize milestone accessions for diplomatic or publicity value—an agenda to signal momentum could encourage rounding or optimistic framing ^{[1] [2]}. The September items addressing broader peace-policy topics carry normative arguments about peacemaking and geopolitics and do not contribute numeric evidence; their policy orientation reveals different aims—analysis and advocacy rather than ratification tracking (p2_s1–p3_s3).

6. What can be concluded from the provided dataset — limited but directional

From the supplied analyses, one can conclude with confidence that the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation saw multiple new State Parties in early 2025, with at least 15 reported by January and at least 18 by March according to separate items ^{[1] [2]}. The dataset does not, however, permit a definitive final count of how many countries had ratified “the 2025 peace treaties” as of 2025 if that phrase refers to a different instrument, nor does it provide a reconciled roster to resolve the 15-versus-18 discrepancy within the corpus provided (p1_s2, ^[2], ^[3]–p3_s3).

7. Recommended next steps to settle the question authoritatively

To resolve the conflict and answer the original question precisely, consult the UN treaty depositary records or the official UN Treaty Collection database for the convention in question to obtain the authoritative list and dates of ratifications/accessions through 2025; these primary records will show the exact count and dates needed to reconcile 15 versus 18 claims ^{[1] [2]}. Absent those primary depositary documents in the provided dataset, any numeric assertion beyond “at least 18 by March 2025” would exceed what the supplied analyses reliably substantiate ^{[1] [2]}.