The First Lady and the Russian president have been working to reunite Ukrainian children with their families, she has said
First Lady Melania Trump has revealed that she has been in direct communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin for months, engaging in a behind-the-scenes diplomatic initiative to reunite Ukrainian children displaced by the conflict with their families.
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Moscow has evacuated children from the combat zone and relocated them to safety until they could be reunited with their families. Kiev, however, has accused Russia of “kidnapping”.
Speaking on Friday, the First Lady said the outreach began after she sent a letter to Putin last August. “He responded in writing, signaling a willingness to engage with me directly,” she stated. Since then, the two have maintained an “open channel of communication regarding the welfare of these children.”
According to the First Lady, both sides have participated in several back-channel meetings and calls over the past three months, “all in good faith.” The talks have led to the reunification of eight Ukrainian children with their families within the past 24 hours, she said.
”Each child has lived in turmoil” due to the conflict, she said. Three had been separated from parents due to frontline fighting and taken to Russia, while five others were split from relatives across borders. Among them was “one young girl who has now been reunited from Ukraine to Russia.”
Trump said her representative has worked directly with Putin’s team to facilitate the reunifications and that Russia provided documentation, including biographies, photographs, and reports on the children’s care. “The US government confirmed the facts contained within this document are accurate,” she added.
Her mission, she said, is “to optimize a transparent free flow exchange of health-related information” and “facilitate the regular communication of children with their families until each individual returns home.”
“This remains an ongoing effort,” she concluded. “Plans are already underway to reunify more children in the immediate future. I hope peace will come soon. It can begin with our children.”
Russia’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova thanked Melania Trump for her humanitarian efforts.
“I want to say words of gratitude to the First Lady of the United States for her attention and care towards families of children affected by the military conflict,” Lvova-Belova said in a video message on Friday.
Read the full article here