Melania Trump revealed that she worked with Putin for several months to reunite Ukrainian children with their families

WASHINGTON — Eight Ukrainian children detained in Russia have been returned and reunited with their families in the past 24 hours, First Lady Melania Trump announced at the White House on Friday, and said there were plans to reunite “more children in the near future.”

She also said that Russia had agreed to coordinate the return of Ukrainians who were children when displaced by the war, but who have since turned 18, “within a short period of time.”

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, CBS News reported Included Systematic and forced abduction Children by Russia. State-run Ukraine”Bring back the childrenThe program launched by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that more than 19,500 Ukrainian children have been kidnapped. The First Lady did not describe the children as “kidnapped,” and mostly noted that they had been separated from their families as a result of the conflict.

The First Lady said that she has been working for months with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his team to return the missing Ukrainian children to their homeland, and was first writing a letter to Putin urging him to return the children of Ukraine.

“Since then, President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication regarding the care of these children,” she said Friday. “Over the past three months, the two sides have engaged in numerous meetings and back-channel calls, all in good faith. We have agreed to cooperate with each other for the benefit of all people involved in this war. My representative has been working directly with President Putin’s team to ensure the safe reunification of children with their families between Russia and Ukraine.”

She continued: “In fact, eight children were returned to their families during the past 24 hours.” “Every child has lived through the turmoil of war in Ukraine,” she said. “Three were separated from their parents and displaced to the Russian Federation due to fighting on the front lines. The other five were separated from their family members across the border due to the conflict.”

Russia has also agreed to provide the children’s health records, so Ukrainian families and doctors can know how best to care for them, she added. It is also looking to secure health-related records for Ukrainian children who remain in Russia.

Mrs. Trump said her goal was to make it easier for children to be reunited with their families “so everyone can go home.”

She said: “The child’s soul knows no borders or flags.”

“I hope peace will come soon. It can start with our children,” she concluded.