The key facts

  • Melania Trump called the Russia–Ukraine meeting on November 5 a historic event and wrote personal letters to Putin and Zelensky
  • White House press office: for the first time, a US First Lady personally brought together representatives of two states in an armed conflict
  • The Kremlin positively assessed the meeting and called for maintaining a constructive attitude

Assessment of the meeting by the US First Lady

US First Lady Melania Trump called the meeting between representatives of Russia and Ukraine, held on November 5 at the White House, a historic event. According to her, the talks helped strengthen personal relationships between the participants and create an atmosphere of mutual trust; she wrote about this on the social network X. “We chose humanity over war,” she said during the event.

Who took part and why the meeting is notable

On the Russian side, the talks were attended by Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and special representative of the Russian president, and human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova; on the Ukrainian side, ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and the head of the parliamentary faction Servant of the People, David Arakhamia. The White House press office described the meeting as an unusual event: for the first time, a US First Lady personally brought together representatives of two states in an armed conflict for a diplomatic dialogue. During the event, Melania Trump also prepared personal letters to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. She expressed hope that the contacts established would become the basis for further peace initiatives.

The Kremlin's reaction

Earlier, Life.ru reported that the Kremlin positively assessed the meeting. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov emphasized the importance of maintaining a constructive attitude among the participants in the talks and, in his words, the need to keep open the possibility of further humanitarian cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv.