First lady Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House on Thursday and urged both sides to turn a short local ceasefire she helped arrange into a lasting peace.
“Together, we can create something more enduring than a temporary ceasefire,” she told the delegations.
The meeting followed a six-day truce around Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine’s Kherson region. The pause allowed aid deliveries and the evacuation of nearly 800 civilians.
It was the longest multi-day truce since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The White House said the first lady acted as the “exclusive intermediary” in the deal, a role set out in written agreements both countries signed on Oct. 23. She said she reviewed demining plans, evacuation routes and hospital access herself.
“The ceasefire in Oleshky would not be possible without President Putin and President Zelensky,” she said.
Russia was represented by Kirill Dmitriev, a special envoy to President Vladimir Putin, and Yana Lantratova, the country’s human rights commissioner. Ukraine sent David Arakhamia, who leads the ruling Servant of the People party in parliament, and Dmytro Lubinets, its human rights commissioner.
The Ukrainian officials presented her with the Order of Princess Olga, First Class, a state award from President Volodymyr Zelensky. She handed the envoys letters she had written to Putin and Zelensky.
The White House called it the first time a first lady had brought together representatives of two nations at war for diplomacy.
Others have also claimed a role. Pope Leo XIV had pressed both sides to allow aid and evacuations in the area.
The truce ended on Sunday without an extension. A day earlier, a Russian strike on an aid distribution point in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region killed at least 40 people, Zelensky said.
Wider U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11.