As he began his one-on-one meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked First Lady Melania Trump for writing a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin urging for peace on behalf of the children suffering in Russia and Ukraine as a result of the ongoing conflict.
“I want to thank Melania Trump for her attention to one of the most painful and difficult issues of this war – the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia,” Zelensky had previously written on social media site X. Her message to Putin and her sympathy are greatly appreciated. This problem—our children, fractured families, and the anguish of separation—lies at the core of the war’s humanitarian disaster. At least twenty thousand children have been removed. I requested that President Trump forward a note of appreciation from Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, to Melania. Melania’s care strengthens this cause, and her voice matters.
Additionally, he wrote: “We are working nonstop to get every child back home. The same is true for our people and POWs who have been detained in Russia under appalling conditions for years, some since 2014. This is part of bringing about peace, but thousands of people still need to be liberated. We are appreciative of our strong allies who support us as we strive toward a consensus on the “all for all” framework of the POW exchange.
However, Melania did not accompany her husband to Anchorage, Alaska, last week for his conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
With “many thanks to your wife, first lady of the United States,” Zelensky told Trump that the letter touched him and his wife, Olena Zelenska, and gave him a letter to offer her in exchange.
He warned, “It’s not to you, (it’s) to your wife,” which made the US President and assembled media giggle.
“Every child shares the same quiet dreams in their heart, whether they are born randomly into a nation’s rustic countryside or a magnificent city-center,” Melania said in her letter dated August 15. They dream of safety from harm, love, and possibilities.
The First Lady, Melania, 55, is a modern-day Slovenian citizen. She was born and raised in communist Yugoslavia before leaving to work as a model in the early 1990s, as the nation was starting to destabilize, plunge into a decade of interethnic conflicts, and eventually split into several successor states.
The First Lady pleaded with Putin in her letter to preserve the “innocence” of the youngsters in the war-torn nations.
“As parents, it is our duty to nurture the next generation’s hope,” she wrote in her letter.
“As leaders, we have an obligation to provide for our children that goes beyond the comfort of a select few. Unquestionably, we must work to create a world that is full of dignity for everyone, so that everyone can awaken to peace and the future is fully protected.
By doing this, you will serve humanity as a whole, not only Russia, she continued. Such a daring concept cuts over all human boundaries, and you, Mr. Putin, are capable of carrying out this vision with a single stroke of the pen today. The time has come.
The leaders left the almost three-hour meeting on August 15 without reaching a ceasefire deal, despite the letter and President Trump’s warning that there would be “severe consequences” if Putin did not accept it.
Following Putin’s assertion that the two global leaders had come to “an understanding,” Trump declared, “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
But the U.S. president also told reporters that the two made “great progress” and gave the summit ten stars.
“Many points were agreed upon during our very fruitful meeting. “There are only a handful remaining,” he stated.
In response to queries from reporters after their meeting on Monday, Trump and Zelensky stated that he will call Putin following his meeting with the broader group of European leaders who accompanied the Ukrainian president to the White House.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were among the European leaders.
A “family photo” was taken before the group gathered in the East Room to talk about Ukraine’s security.
The US President informed the gathering that he intended to arrange a meeting between Putin and the Ukrainian President after their talks, while Zelensky informed the leaders that he and Trump had a “productive” conversation.
In his conversation with the European leaders, Trump also retracted his original proposal for a ceasefire, implying that Putin had no interest in it.
Trump maintained that it was unlikely to occur and unnecessary for achieving ultimate peace, even though a number of heads of state in the room stated that talks with Russia should not be permitted to continue until a ceasefire is reached.
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