Melania Trump urges Russia and Ukraine to build on truce at White House meeting
The US first lady hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials and said her role as "exclusive intermediary" was set out in written agreements signed by both countries.
At a glance
- Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House and urged them to seek a lasting peace.
- She said her role as exclusive intermediary was set out in written agreements signed by both countries.
- The six-day Oleshky truce allowed aid and the evacuation of nearly 800 people, and expired without extension.
US first lady Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House on Thursday and urged both sides to build on a recent local truce and work towards what she called a more enduring peace.
The White House said the meeting was believed to be the first time in American history that a first lady has personally brought representatives of two nations at war to the White House for diplomacy.
Those at the table included Kirill Dmitriev, a special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Yana Lantratova, Russia's human rights commissioner. Ukraine was represented by David Arakhamia, who leads the Servant of the People party in parliament, and Dmytro Lubinets, the country's parliamentary human rights commissioner.
"Together, we can create something more enduring than a temporary ceasefire," Melania Trump said, asking both delegations to treat the humanitarian truce in Oleshky as "a spark in a world of darkness".
She said her role as "exclusive intermediary" was set out in written agreements signed by both countries, and that she had been involved at every stage of the planning, including a review of de-mining plans and evacuation routes.
Ukrainian representatives presented her with the Order of Princess Olga, first class, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had awarded her earlier in the week. She in turn handed the most senior officials present letters she had written to Putin and Zelenskyy.
Six-day truce
The truce covered Russian-occupied Oleshky, in Ukraine's Kherson region, and the surrounding area. It lasted six days and allowed aid deliveries and the evacuation of nearly 800 people from a city where an estimated 2,000 civilians had remained.
It was the longest multi-day truce between the two countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and the first joint relief operation in four years and eight months.
The White House has said Melania Trump mediated the truce, although Pope Leo XIV also pressed both sides to allow aid and evacuations, and accounts of who brokered it have diverged.
The truce expired last Sunday with no extension. The following day, according to Zelenskyy, a Russian bombing of an aid distribution point in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhia region, killed at least 40 people.
New talks between Russia and Ukraine, brokered by the United States, are expected in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- Who attended the White House meeting with Melania Trump?
- Russia was represented by Kirill Dmitriev, a special envoy of Vladimir Putin, and human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova. Ukraine sent David Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People party, and parliamentary human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets.
- What was the Oleshky truce?
- It was a six-day humanitarian truce covering Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine's Kherson region and the surrounding area. It allowed aid deliveries and the evacuation of nearly 800 people, and expired without an extension.
- What happens next in US-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine?
- New talks brokered by the United States are expected to take place in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, according to Al Jazeera.
