Donald Trump hand-delivered a personal letter from first lady Melania Trump to Russian leader Vladimir Putin raising the plight of Ukrainian and Russian children caught in the middle of the ongoing war between the two European countries, it was reported on Saturday.
The contents of the letter were unknown – but two Trump administration officials told Reuters that it mentioned the abductions of children resulting from the war that broke out after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Putin was indicted by the international criminal court in 2023, and still faces arrest in 125 countries, for his alleged role in the war crime of abducting those children and transferring them from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
Slovenian-born Melania Trump did not attend the peace summit between Trump and Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday.
But she has previously said that her ambition as US first lady was to be akin to Eleanor Roosevelt, who was known for her work advocating for children’s rights and welfare during Franklin D Roosevelt’s presidency.
Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the United Nations treaty definition of genocide.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, conveyed his gratitude to the US first lady on his call with Trump on Saturday, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said on Saturday.
“During the conversation, President Zelenskyy also conveyed his gratitude to first lady Melania Trump for her sincere attention and efforts to bring forcibly deported Ukrainian kids back,” Sybiha said on X. “This is a true act of humanism.”
Ahead of Friday’s summit, the White House stated that Russia’s abduction of more than 20,000 Ukrainian children “remains a concern” for Trump seven months into his second presidency. Moscow has previously said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone.
The issue returned to the headlines earlier in August, when the non-governmental organization Save Ukraine accused Russia of “state-sponsored child trafficking” after a group of administrators in Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine published an online catalogue of what they called Ukrainian orphans.
Organization head Mykola Kuleba said the database from the Russia-installed administration’s education ministry in the Luhansk region contains data on 294 Ukrainian children under the age of 17 who have been separated from their parents.
Kuleba noted the website shows the names, photos, descriptions of personalities and hobbies of the children.
“Russia isn’t even trying to hide it any more,” Kuleba said. “It’s openly trafficking Ukrainian children.
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“The way they describe our children is no different from a slave catalogue. This is real child trafficking in the 21st century, which the world must stop.”
After news of the first lady’s letter was posted, the Bring Kids Back UA initiative expressed gratitude to Melania Trump for her concern. “Deep gratitude to [the first lady] for caring so profoundly about the fate of Ukraine’s children. Each word of support brings them closer to their families, communities and home,” it said.
US lawmakers have demanded the return of Ukraine’s children from Russia before any peace deal is agreed to and in July introduced a congressional resolution calling for their return.
Led by Texas Republican congressman Michael McCaul and New York Democrat Gregory Meeks, the resolution condemns Russia’s abduction, forcible transfer and facilitation of the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. A US Senate version was introduced by Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley and Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat.
Meeks said “the Russian military has cruelly abducted and illegally deported tens of thousands of Ukrainian children from their homeland”.
“These atrocities are not isolated incidents,” Meeks said. “They are the direct result of Putin’s war of choice.”
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