Melania Trump seeks lasting Ukraine ceasefire

U.S. First Lady Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House on Thursday to call for a lasting ceasefire in Ukraine. The meeting aimed to build upon a recent six-day truce in the Ukrainian city of Oleshky. According to Yonhap News, the Oleshky ceasefire began on October 27 and followed a written agreement reached on October 23 after the First Lady began working with officials through her representative, Marc Beckman, in September.

During the meeting, Melania Trump stated that the goal is to create something more enduring than a temporary ceasefire by finding common ground through a shared concern for the suffering of innocent people. Free Malaysia Today reports that she dispatched personal letters to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky via their envoys.

Yonhap News noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, attended the event and stated that Putin had issued personal instructions to ensure the ceasefire's implementation. Senior Ukrainian lawmaker David Arakhamia was also in attendance and praised the initiative.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch, Punch Nigeria, Free Malaysia Today, Yonhap News — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.