New Delhi, Aug 19: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brought a letter from his wife, Olena Zelenska, addressed to US First Lady Melania Trump that was handed over at Oval office to Trump in presence of media. The gesture followed Melania’s own widely reported letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, urging him to protect children caught in the war. Zelensky praised her intervention, calling it a “humanitarian gesture that carries deep meaning for Ukrainian families.”
The exchange of letters added a deeply personal dimension to Monday’s White House summit, where the main agenda revolved around war, security guarantees, and possible peace talks. But alongside the geopolitics, the issue of abducted children found a prominent place.
While Trump’s primary focus at the summit was on arranging a possible meeting between Zelensky and Putin, the attention on abducted children reflected how the first lady’s role is being woven into the wider diplomatic narrative. Melania Trump, typically reserved on political matters, has in recent weeks become more visible on humanitarian issues, particularly those affecting children.
President Donald Trump said he and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had discussed the global problem of missing children, an issue, he noted, that is also a priority for the first lady, reports international media.
“Ursula von der Leyen, the distinguished and highly respected President of the European Commission, and I have been discussing the massive worldwide problem of missing children,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is, likewise, a big subject with my wife, Melania. It is a subject at the top of all lists, and the world will work together to solve it, hopefully bringing them home to their families.”
Von der Leyen responded on X, tying the issue directly to the war in Ukraine. “The human cost of the Ukraine war must end. And that means every single Ukrainian child abducted by Russia must be returned to their families. I thank @POTUS for his clear commitment today to ensuring these children are reunited with their loved ones,” she wrote.
Kyiv says thousands of Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia since the start of the invasion, often separated from their families. The International Criminal Court has already issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the alleged deportations.
The exchange of letters between the two first ladies gave a softer, human layer to an otherwise tense day of negotiations. As one European diplomat noted, “The politics are difficult, but sometimes it is these personal touches that remind us what is at stake.”
By focusing on abducted children, the first ladies’ exchange added a deeply human angle to a summit dominated by strategic and diplomatic maneuvers. Behind the maps, peace plans, and security posturing lies the suffering of thousands of families torn apart.
