Melania Trump to convene Ukraine, Russia representatives at White House on Nov. 5

Melania Trump, the First Lady of the United States, will host delegations from Russia and Ukraine at the White House this week. The purpose of the visit is to deliver remarks on the recent ceasefire and humanitarian mission in the Ukrainian town of Oleshky. The six-day ceasefire, which concluded on Sunday, allowed for emergency aid to reach Oleshky and any civilians to evacuate to either Ukrainian-controlled or Russian territory.

The White House claims that this diplomatic initiative is unprecedented for an American First Lady. Melania Trump is set to address the ceasefire at 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday. This announcement comes after a report in the French newspaper Le Monde suggested that the humanitarian operation was negotiated over four months by Russia's GRU and Ukraine's HUR military intelligence agencies.

Sources cited by Le Monde indicate that Russia and Ukraine agreed to credit the First Lady for the ceasefire as a means to appease President Donald Trump, who is seeking a diplomatic breakthrough in peace negotiations. However, the White House statement on Tuesday asserts that Melania Trump "independently initiated engagement between the two warring nations and successfully secured a ceasefire in Oleshky and the surrounding Kherson region."

Meanwhile, trilateral talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine are set to resume in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. These talks were previously stalled due to the conflict in the Middle East. Recently, Russia's Prosecutor General's Office designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, which threatens the safety of its staff and criminalizes its work.

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