Melania Trump was credited by both delegations at the White House with playing a key though unspecified role in the ceasefire, and all parties conveyed to her the gratitude of the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.
The US first lady said she had “reviewed demining plans, aerial images, assessed roadways, and discussed evacuation routes, hospital access, vehicles, and medical resources” during the truce.
“Last week in Oleshky and neighbouring areas of Kherson, people experienced the simple joys of life for the first time since 2022,” Trump said. “They walked down familiar streets without fear of explosions.”
She thanked both Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, making no reference to the origins of the war, which began when the Russian president launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and which has caused thousands of civilian casualties and the displacement of millions.
Dmitriev, a businessman and special Putin envoy who has previously represented Moscow during peace talks with Ukraine, thanked the US first lady for “saving and touching so many lives”.
“Let us continue making a humanitarian contribution together; this is within our power,” Dmitriev said, before gifting Melania Trump a framed drawing by an 11-year-old Oleshky evacuee.
He also praised Trump for her work on reuniting children separated from their families by the war. These include children allegedly abducted by Russia.
Arakhamia, a Ukrainian MP who heads Zelensky’s party in parliament who has also been part of the Ukrainian negotiating team, said the Oleshky ceasefire had constituted the “biggest de-escalation since 2022”.
“We are creating a momentum where both sides are learning the… mechanics of how to actually keep the peace when the peace comes,” he added.
He acknowledged that the “political track” of negotiations to end the conflict was “complex” but said Ukrainians were asking Melania Trump “to keep going and find new missions and de-escalate more.”
At the end of the event, Trump handed Dmitriev and Arakhamia two letters to be hand-delivered to their respective presidents.
The White House later said Melania Trump had invited her guests to view two historic artifacts which she had “personally selected as powerful symbols of peace”.
One was an 18th Century medicine chest which was removed from the White House when the British set it on fire in 1812. “Once adversaries, the United States and Great Britain ultimately established a strong alliance,” the White House said.
The second artifact was a cup gifted in 1899 to the French ambassador in recognition of his efforts to bring the Spanish-American war to an end.
Melania Trump has generally remained discreet on foreign policy matters, and neither Moscow nor Kyiv have elaborated on the nature or extent of her involvement in coordinating the delicate ceasefire – the most enduring and widespread of the war so far.
A source who works in the local government of the Kherson region told the BBC that work on the Oleshky evacuation had been ongoing for almost a year.
