First Lady Melania Trump made a rare formal announcement from the White House on Friday where she revealed that she has been engaged in secret talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The first lady said that due to ongoing efforts eight children separated during the war in Ukraine have now been reunited with their families, and she said the work continues.
Trump said that her dialogue with Putin has been ongoing since she sent him a letter in August. The president first revealed the letter she had written to the Russian leader on Truth Social, which was hand-delivered to Putin during his summit with Trump in Alaska.
“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,” the first lady said Friday.
“Since then, President Putin and I have had an open channel of communications regarding the welfare of these children,” she continued.
Trump said that for the past three months, both the U.S. and Russia participated in several back-channel meetings and calls.
“We have agreed to cooperate with each other for the benefit of all people involved in this war,” Trump said. “My representative has been working directly with President Putin’s team.”
The first lady, who spends most of her time in New York, made her roughly five-minute speech from a podium at the White House before turning around and exiting the room without taking any questions.
Melania has been a quiet adviser to her husband on the war in Ukraine since he took office. The president has said on numerous occasions that the first lady has been quick to point out to her husband that Putin had not been negotiating with him in good faith as the war dragged on.
The negotiations between the first lady and Russia to successfully reunite the eight children with their families may be one of the few successful outcomes to emerge from the president’s high-stakes meeting with Putin in Anchorage.
Trump said on Friday that of the eight children, three were separated from their parents and displaced to Russia because of frontline fighting, while the other five were separated from their families across borders because of the conflict. The first lady said that the U.S. verified the identities and circumstances of each of the children.
“This is an important initiative for me,” Trump said.
Ukraine has said it has been able to verify Russia has kidnapped nearly 20,000 children since the start of the war, but estimates the true figure is actually much higher. The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale estimated the total was closer to 35,000 in March.
In her first letter in August, the first lady wrote to Putin that protecting children would benefit not only Russia but also “will serve humanity itself.”
During her Friday remarks, the first lady said her ongoing mission would be to optimize the flow of information on all children who have been victims of the war and to facilitate the regular reunification of children with their families.
The first lady said that Russia has also agreed to rejoin those who were separated from their families during the three-year war and have since turned 18. She said it remains an ongoing effort and plans are already underway to reunite more children.
“I hope peace will come soon. It can begin with our children,” Trump concluded.
It follows the first lady’s attendance at the United Nations General Assembly alongside her husband in New York last month. While there, she met directly with Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska, where they discussed those impacted by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
