First Lady Melania Trump announced that she has been conducting months of secret negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin that resulted in eight Ukrainian children being reunited with their families.
Trump spoke for six minutes from the White House on Friday, revealing she has maintained an “open channel of communication” with Putin since August, and is working to reunite children displaced by the war in Ukraine with their families.
“Since then, President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication regarding the welfare of these children,” Melania Trump revealed. “For the past three months, both sides have participated in several backchannel meetings and calls, all in good faith. We have agreed to cooperate with each other for the benefit of all people involved in this war.”
The first lady sent Putin a letter in August that was hand-delivered by President Donald Trump during their summit in Alaska. The letter urged Putin to consider the impact the war was having on children.
“Since President Putin received my letter last August, he responded in writing, signaling a willingness to engage with me directly, and outlining details regarding the Ukrainian children residing in Russia,” Mrs. Trump said.
Eight children were reunited with their families in the 24 hours before her announcement. Three were separated from their parents and displaced to Russia because of frontline fighting. The other five were separated from family members across borders because of the conflict, including one young girl who was reunited from Ukraine to Russia.
“My representative has been working directly with President Putin’s team to ensure the safe reunification of children with their families between Russia and Ukraine,” Mrs. Trump said. “In fact, eight children have been rejoined with their families during the past 24 hours.”
Ukraine has claimed that Russia has kidnapped nearly 20,000 children since the invasion began in February 2022. The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale estimated in March that the actual number is closer to 35,000. Russia has denied the allegations.
Mrs. Trump said Russia has provided documents showing the social, medical, and mental health services given to the Ukrainian children. She also raised concerns about Ukrainians who were minors when the war started but have since turned 18 while residing in Russia.
“Given the dangers of traversing this war-torn region, their safe return requires coordinated assistance,” Mrs. Trump said. “Accordingly, Russia has agreed to rejoin the individuals who have turned 18 within a short period of time.”
The first lady said plans are already underway to reunify more children in the immediate future.
“My ongoing mission is twofold: To optimize a transparent free-flow exchange of health-related information surrounding all children who have fallen victim to this war, and to facilitate the regular reunification of children with their families until each individual returns home,” Trump said.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said on social media Saturday that his country is “deeply grateful” to the first lady for her “compassion and genuine involvement in the effort to bring Ukrainian children back home.”
Mrs. Trump met with Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska last month during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where they discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine.
President Trump has said on numerous occasions that the first lady has warned him that Putin had not been negotiating in good faith as the war dragged on, but they’ve expressed optimism that they can still secure peace.
“I hope peace will come soon,” Mrs. Trump said. “It can begin with our children.”