Melania Trump says she has an “open channel of communication” with Putin about Ukrainian children

First Lady Melania Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to her letter in which she expressed concern about child victims of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

She made the announcement on Friday, saying that after an “open channel of communication” with Putin, Ukrainian children displaced by the war had been reunited with their families.

The first lady’s “message of peace” was hand-delivered to Putin during his visit to Alaska in August.

President Donald Trump shared parts of the message on social media. In it, the First Lady implores Putin to protect children, writing that doing so “would serve more than Russia alone” and “serve humanity itself.”

“Eight children have been returned to their families in the last 24 hours,” Mrs. Trump said, surrounded by American flags behind a podium at the White House.

“Every child has lived through the turmoil of war in Ukraine.”

Of the eight children, the First Lady said that three were separated from their families and were displaced to Russia due to fighting on the front lines.

Mrs. Trump says another girl displaced by the conflict has now been returned from Ukraine to Russia.

The first lady said the reunification of the children with their families was facilitated by both Ukraine and Russia, adding that she had obtained a detailed report with photos and the “identities and circumstances” of each child.

She added that the US government “confirmed the facts.”

Mrs Trump said she had “learned a lot about this” since first delivering her letter to Putin. She said he responded in writing.

The First Lady wrote in her letter: “Every child shares the same peaceful dreams in his heart… dreams of love, possibility, and safety from danger.”

This announcement represents a positive development in her advocacy for children from the White House, which began during President Trump’s first term.

The BE BEST initiative was launched in January 2021, which the White House described as an awareness campaign focused on the well-being of children globally.

Earlier this year, the First Lady led an initiative for Congress to pass a bill banning revenge porn called the Take It Down Act. After signing the bill, she said it was “a strong statement that we stand united in protecting the dignity, privacy and safety of our children.”

According to the Ukrainian government, at least 19,500 Ukrainian children have been deported and forcibly displaced from their homes to Russia and Russian-occupied territories since February 2022.

Only 1,605 children have returned home so far, according to the government’s foreign children of war database.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova Belova in 2023 on charges of illegal deportation of children.

Russia denies the accusation and says it protects children by transporting them from a war zone for their safety.