US First Lady Melania Trump has invited senior Russian and Ukrainian officials to the White House on November 5, in what her office has described as an unprecedented diplomatic initiative by an American first lady.
The meeting comes a week before negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are due to reconvene in Abu Dhabi, the first three-way round since February. It also follows a localised ceasefire around the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, which she brokered and which held from October 27 to November 1.
Russia’s delegation was expected to include Kirill Dmitriev, President Vladimir Putin’s envoy for international economic cooperation, and the country’s human rights ombudsman, Yana Lantratova. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian state agency TASS on November 4 that the pair would attend provided the logistics could be arranged.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, confirmed on Facebook that he was travelling to Washington for the talks and asked Ukrainians what single message they would want him to pass on to the first lady.
“First Lady Melania Trump will personally bring representatives of Russia and Ukraine, two nations actively at war, together at the White House,” her office said in a statement.
On November 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree awarding Melania Trump the Order of Princess Olga, First Class, citing her personal contribution to humanitarian support for Ukraine and her human rights and charitable work.
The honour recognised her role in the Oleshky truce, which the White House announced on October 23. Oleshky, on the Dnipro river opposite Ukrainian-held Kherson, was captured on the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and had been without reliable food, medicine or power for months.
Both sides respected the six-day halt in fighting, which allowed roads to be demined and residents to leave for either Ukrainian or Russian-controlled territory. The first lady said on November 1 that nearly 800 people had been evacuated, adding that she hoped Oleshky would serve as a foundation for lasting peace.
Pope Leo XIV was also involved in the mediation and said he hoped the cooperation shown in Oleshky would pave the way for broader peace efforts.
The first lady has been in direct contact with the Kremlin since August 2025, when her husband hand-delivered a letter from her to Putin at their summit in Alaska. Since then she has overseen several rounds of child reunifications, with Lubinets crediting her in April with the return of 26 Ukrainian children taken to Russia.
Her intervention comes as the Ukraine War grinds through its fifth year and as Kyiv watches warily the renewed rapprochement between US President Donald Trump and Putin. Zelensky said he had held detailed talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ahead of the Abu Dhabi meeting.
