First Lady Melania Trump appeared in public on Thursday, just two days after voters delivered a severe rebuke to her husband in the midterm elections.
She welcomed Russian and Ukrainian officials to the White House Cross Hall to mark a six-day truce she helped broker in the war-ravaged city of Oleshky.
The gathering represented the latest stage of the First Lady’s peace initiative. Representatives from both delegations also presented her with gifts.
“Together we can create something more enduring than a temporary ceasefire,” she said from the podium.
“Let us see Oleshky as a spark in a world of darkness capable of illuminating the best of humanity,” the First Lady continued. “Build a powerful flame of peace, visible to the world. Ignite hope, foster cooperation and brighten the path toward lasting peace.”
Nearly 800 people were evacuated during the six-day pause, which began on October 7 and ended on November 1 after Russia declined to extend it.
Even so, Kirill Dmitriev, a representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government, praised the effort and commended both the First Lady and the President.
“President Putin also appreciates President Trump’s peace-making efforts and his team working on a peace plan to resolve [the] Ukrainian crisis,” Dmitriev said. He was the first speaker at the event.
First Lady Melania Trump appeared in the White House Cross Hall Thursday with members of both the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, calling for the six-day ceasefire in Oleshky to help create a broader peace
First Lady Melania Trump (right) shakes hands with Kirill Dmitriev (left), a representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government, who was given the opportunity to speak first at the event
Dmitriev also brought the First Lady a gift: a “painting” made by an 11-year-old girl who had been living in Oleshky and chose to move to Russia with her family during the ceasefire.
“And this beautiful drawing says just three words, ‘I love Melania,’” Dmitriev said.
“And this message from children, frankly, overshadows any diplomatic statement anybody can make,” the Russian envoy added.
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On October 23, Melania Trump’s office announced that she had helped broker a localized ceasefire to assist the besieged city of Oleshky.
Russian forces captured Oleshky on the first day of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The city’s resources have steadily deteriorated since then. The Associated Press reported that food and medical supplies had been in short supply for months.
Residents have been left without electricity, heating or running water.
Hundreds of people were killed after the Kakhovka Dam collapsed in an explosion in June 2023, an incident the AP determined was likely caused by the Russian military.
The White House estimated that roughly 90 percent of the city was submerged by floodwaters.
The humanitarian crisis in Oleshky came to the First Lady’s attention while she was attending the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and head of the negotiating team for the implementation of the mission on the Ukrainian side Dmytro Lubinets (center) poses with Ukrainian citizens evacuated from the Russian-occupied Oleshky
She had traveled to New York to host Fostering the Future Together, an initiative focused on empowering and protecting children from emerging technologies.
Melania Trump, who was born in Slovenia, had previously worked to reunite Ukrainian children taken by Russian forces with their parents.
She notably wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging him to consider the plight of children during the war, which has continued for nearly five years.
President Donald Trump personally delivered the First Lady’s letter to Putin when the two leaders met in Anchorage, Alaska, last August.
To date, she has helped reunite 34 children with their families.
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