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Trump delivers Melania's letter to Putin during Alaska meeting; Here's what it said
Trump handed over a letter from First Lady Melania Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a crucial meeting in Alaska on Friday, according to Reuters.
US President Donald Trump handed over a letter from First Lady Melania Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a crucial meeting in Alaska on Friday, according to Reuters.
In the letter, Melania highlighted the tragedy of thousands of Ukrainian kids who have allegedly been kidnapped by Russian forces since Putin directed an all-out invasion in February 2022, the news agency reported, citing two White House sources.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian officials have abducted tens of thousands of Ukrainian kids and transported them to Russia or to regions of Ukraine that are under Russian control.
The International Criminal Court granted a warrant for Putin's arrest in March 2023 in connection with the suspected kidnapping of Ukrainian children. Children were taken out of battle zones for their own safety, according to Russian officials, who also called the arrest warrant “outrageous and unacceptable.”
What else we know about Melania's letter to Putin
Trump and Putin held a joint press conference in Alaska on Friday to talk about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Despite the fact that Putin did not commit to a ceasefire, Trump said that the negotiations had been “very productive” and that there were “many points we agreed on.”
Trump presented Putin with a letter from Melania that expressed worry for the plight of thousands of Ukrainian children who were allegedly taken from their homes by Russian authorities without their agreement, according to Reuters. The precise content of the letter has not been disclosed yet.
Kyiv claimed that the kidnapping of over 20,000 Ukrainian children since February 2022 qualified as genocide under the UN's criteria.
The US declared in June 2024 that it was aware of "credible reports" that Ukrainian infants were offered for adoption on Russian websites, calling the method “despicable and appalling.”
As per British daily The Sun, several Ukrainian children who were kidnapped were made to sing the Russian national anthem and were not allowed to talk in their native language. However, Moscow claimed that the evacuation of children from war regions was a humanitarian action.
Speaking to the media, Trump said that his wife mentioned that Russia still bombs Ukrainian cities even after POTUS' phone conversations with Putin.
In July, Trump reportedly told USA Today: “I go home, I tell the first lady, 'You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.' And she said, 'Oh really? Another city was just hit.”
Trump's wife has been the target of criticism from Russian official media in recent weeks; one well-known pro-regime TV host called her a “Ukrainian agent.”
