First Lady Melania Trump has revealed she has been in direct communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin for months, engaging in a behind-the-scenes effort to reunite Ukrainian children displaced by the conflict with their families. Since the escalation of the Ukraine war in 2022, Moscow has evacuated children from combat zones and relocated them to safety until they could be reunited with their families. Kyiv has accused Russia of “kidnapping” the children.
Speaking on Friday, Trump stated her outreach began after she sent a letter to Putin last August. “He responded in writing, signaling a willingness to engage with me directly,” she said. Since then, the two have maintained an “open channel of communication regarding the welfare of these children.” According to the First Lady, back-channel meetings and calls over the past three months have led to the reunification of eight Ukrainian children with their families within the past 24 hours.
Trump described the situation as one of “turmoil” for the children, noting three had been separated from parents due to frontline fighting and taken to Russia, while five others were split from relatives across borders. She mentioned a young girl who was reunited from Ukraine to Russia. Trump’s representative worked directly with Putin’s team to facilitate the reunifications, with Russia providing 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.
Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, thanked Trump for her humanitarian efforts, stating, “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.”
