By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. first lady Melania Trump said she had secured an open line of communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin about repatriating Ukrainian children caught up in the war with Russia, and that some have been returned to their families with more to be reunited soon.
“This remains an ongoing effort,” she told reporters at the White House on Friday. She said Putin had responded to her letter earlier this year and that they remained in touch.
“President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication about the welfare of these children,” she said. “For the past few months, both sides have participated in several back-channel meetings and calls.”
The communication between the Russian president and the U.S. first lady is unusual and reflects a minor bright spot in what have otherwise been largely futile attempts by Washington to end the war that Russia started with its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
President Trump, who has long touted a strong relationship with Putin and invited him to a summit in Alaska in August, has expressed frustration with the Russian leader in recent weeks for not ending the war, which Trump had promised as a candidate to do within a day.
Trump delivered a letter from his wife to Putin at the Alaska meeting.
Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the U.N. treaty definition of genocide. Previously Moscow has said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone.
The first lady said on Friday her representative was working directly with Putin’s team to secure the safe reunification of children with their families between Russia and Ukraine.
Eight children had been returned to their families within the last 24 hours, she said.
“Russia continues to cooperate with the United States in various areas, including humanitarian ones. We appreciate Melania Trump’s humanitarian leadership,” said Russia’s presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who was involved in discussions.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Steve Holland and Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)
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