First Lady Melania Trump will host representatives of Russia and Ukraine at the White House on Thursday and deliver remarks at 11 a.m. Eastern on the Oleshky ceasefire she brokered, the White House announced Tuesday.
“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, according to The Media Line. The White House called the ceasefire an “unprecedented diplomatic initiative by an American First Lady” and the meeting “an extraordinary moment in American history,” the Kyiv Post reported.
🚨 HISTORIC: Melania Trump just did what the entire foreign policy establishment said was impossible. She brokered a six-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in Oleshky. Nearly 800 civilians evacuated. Aid delivered. Not one violation reported. Today she brings BOTH delegations to the White House, and Zelensky just awarded her the Order of Princess Olga, First Class. While Washington was losing elections, the First Lady was saving lives.
— Gunther Eaglemanâ„¢ (@GuntherEagleman) November 5, 2026
The meeting comes days after the ceasefire in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town in Ukraine’s Kherson region, ended. “The mission was a success, delivering critical aid to the region and enabling the evacuation of nearly 800 people,” the First Lady wrote on X, The Media Line reported. She said she hoped Oleshky would serve as a foundation for lasting peace between the two countries.
Who is coming
The White House has not named the delegations. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, citing sources, reported that Ukraine will send David Arakhamia, who leads President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party in parliament, and Dmytro Lubinets, the country’s human rights ombudsman. Russia is expected to send Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, and Yana Lantratova, its human rights commissioner.
The U.S. government sanctioned Lantratova in 2022, so she needs a special State Department waiver to enter the country, the Kyiv Independent reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that he did “not know anything about it yet,” according to UNITED24 Media, citing the Russian outlet Astra.
What the mission produced
Lubinets said Russia acknowledged that about 80% of the evacuees chose to go to Ukrainian-controlled territory, the Kyiv Post reported. Its sources said fewer than 10 chose Russia. Lubinets also said aid was delivered to residents who stayed, that officials of Ukraine, Russia and the United States signed copies of the ceasefire document with Washington as guarantor, and that similar operations could be organized monthly.
Separately, Ukrainian forces evacuated 167 civilians, including 22 children, from towns on the Ukrainian-held side of the Dnipro River during the pause, UNITED24 reported. Several hundred people, and possibly as many as 1,000, remain in Oleshky, according to the Kyiv Post.
The ceasefire began Oct. 27 and expired over the Nov. 1-2 weekend. Outlets differ on the exact hour it ended.
The bigger talks
Russia confirmed on Tuesday that it will attend U.S.-mediated talks with Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10 and 11, with Vladimir Medinsky leading its delegation, RFE/RL reported.
Ukrainian officers accused Russian forces of using the pause to reinforce their positions. Lubinets disputed claims of violations and said Russian military equipment seen during the pause was used only for demining, the Kyiv Post reported. The Kremlin said on Oct. 30 that the Oleshky truce should not be read as a model for the wider peace process.
The bottom line
The First Lady set a concrete goal, getting civilians out of a town trapped on the front line, and met it. Nearly 800 people left and aid reached the people who stayed. By Lubinets’s account, both governments signed a document naming the United States as guarantor, and four out of five evacuees chose Ukrainian-held territory. Those are measurable results.
Putting Russian and Ukrainian officials in the same room at the White House is the next logical step. The two sides are scheduled to meet again in Abu Dhabi next week, and a working channel on humanitarian questions gives negotiators something to build on.
The Kremlin’s response to the meeting does not match its own conduct. Moscow agreed to the ceasefire, signed the document and let its human rights commissioner take part, yet its spokesman says he knows nothing. If Russia wants to be taken seriously in Abu Dhabi, its officials should show up on Thursday and agree to the monthly humanitarian operations Lubinets has proposed.