Melania Trump Hosts Russian and Ukrainian Officials at the White House to Mark the Oleshky Ceasefire
Russia's Kirill Dmitriev and Ukraine's Dmytro Lubinets sat in the same room as the first lady called for a lasting truce, five days before trilateral talks are due to open in Abu Dhabi.
Thursday, November 5, 2026/2 min read
It was an unusual photograph for a war in its fifth year: Russian and Ukrainian officials side by side in the White House, hosted not by the president but by his wife. On Thursday First Lady Melania Trump brought together the delegations that took part in the local ceasefire she brokered in Oleshky, The Globe and Mail reported, to mark the truce and urge both sides to build on it. President Trump did not attend.
We covered the truce when it took effect, in an earlier report on the Marines saying it was holding.
Who attended the White House event on Oleshky?
For Russia, Kirill Dmitriev, President Putin's special envoy, and Yana Lantratova, the human rights commissioner. For Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinets, the human rights ombudsman, and Davyd Arakhamia, who leads President Zelensky's Servant of the People party in parliament. Dmitriev thanked the first lady for her humanitarian role and said Putin had personally given instructions for the operation and sent his thanks, according to the Globe.
What did the Oleshky ceasefire achieve?
The truce covered Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine's Kherson region, and was in effect from 27 October to 1 November, six days. The White House announced it on 23 October. An estimated 2,000 people remained in the city when it began, and they were free to leave for Ukrainian- or Russian-held territory or stay and receive food and medical supplies. Ukrainian authorities have not said how many left and have kept route details restricted. The first lady's office said nearly 800 civilians were allowed to leave, Newsweek reported; the Globe cited her saying on social media that the convoy could safely evacuate more than 750.
Mrs Trump said both sides had signed agreements establishing her role as intermediary and that she had written personal letters to Putin and Zelensky, without disclosing what they said. "We have chosen humanity over war," she said. She told the gathering she hoped the pause could lead to something more lasting, saying what matters is not the modesty of the beginning but the determination to turn it into something extraordinary.
The ceasefire was signed on the day it was announced, 23 October, though it took effect only on 27 October. Neither the Globe nor Newsweek reported any commitment on Thursday to a wider pause, and the event itself was billed as a marking of what had been done rather than a negotiation.
What happens next in the Russia-Ukraine peace effort?
The ceremony is symbolic, but the calendar is not. Newsweek reported that trilateral talks between the United States, Ukraine and Russia are scheduled for 10 and 11 November in Abu Dhabi. The event offered no sign of a wider ceasefire, and fighting continued across the front line this week. Whether a six-day pause around one occupied city can be widened will be tested within a few days.
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