Melania Trump will host Russia and Ukraine at the White House on Thursday after brokering a ceasefire in Oleshky
Donald Trump and Melania Trump, whose office described her as "exclusive intermediary" between Moscow and Kyiv, with Melania set to host Russian and Ukrainian representatives at the White House on Thursday.Evacuees from Oleshky, in Ukraine's Kherson region, where nearly 800 civilians were rescued during the six-day truce before Russia bombed an aid distribution centre and a neighbouring shelter, killing 26 people, the day after it ended.
Melania Trump will bring together Russian and Ukrainian representatives at the White House on Thursday — the first meeting between officials from both sides since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. She secured the Oleshky ceasefire through direct mediation linking Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets with his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova, a deal that allowed close to 800 civilians to leave the area. Russia has separately confirmed that formal peace talks will take place in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11, with Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky heading Moscow's delegation.
The White House calls Thursday's summit 'an extraordinary moment in American history', crediting Melania with independently initiating contact between the two warring nations.
Ukraine accused Russia of using the Oleshky ceasefire to reinforce positions — and Russia launched massive strikes on energy infrastructure in ten regions hours after the Abu Dhabi talks were confirmed.
Lantratova, Moscow's expected representative, was sanctioned by the US in 2022 and will need a State Department waiver to enter the country.
