Melania Trump Hosts Russian and Ukrainian Officials at White House, Urges Lasting Peace

The update

First Lady Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House on Thursday, urging both sides to build on last week’s ceasefire in southern Ukraine toward a more enduring peace. The White House said a first lady had never before brought representatives of two warring nations to the White House for diplomacy. The delegations included Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova, and Ukrainian MP Davyd Arakhamia and human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets. They met after a six-day truce around the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, allowed aid deliveries and the evacuation of nearly 800 people.

Why it matters

The Oleshky truce was the longest multi-day ceasefire since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and both Moscow and Kyiv credited Trump with helping broker it. It expired last Sunday without extension, and on Monday a Russian strike on an aid distribution centre in Zaporizhzhia region killed more than 40 people, according to Zelenskyy. With US-brokered talks expected in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, the meeting tests whether a narrow humanitarian deal can widen into broader de-escalation.

What to watch

Whether humanitarian truces can be repeated or extended to other frontline areas, and whether the Abu Dhabi talks move toward a wider ceasefire. After the meeting, Zelenskyy said Oleshky proved that when Putin wants the fighting to stop, it stops.

Sources

• aljazeera.com — confirms the meeting, attendees and the call to build on the Oleshky truce
• bbc.co.uk — confirms the six-day ceasefire, the evacuation and reaction from both sides

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