Melania Trump wrote a letter to Putin about Ukrainian children: what it says

Donald Trump personally delivered to Russian leader Vladimir Putin a letter from First Lady Melania Trump raising the issue of the fate of Ukrainian children caught up in the ongoing war between the two European countries, writes The Guardian.

Trump administration officials said the letter referenced child abductions following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Putin was indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2023 and remains under arrest in 125 countries for his alleged role in the war crime of kidnapping these children and transferring them from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

However, the text of the letter, which was obtained and published by Fox News on August 16, is extremely vague and does not mention any abductions or transfers of children from occupied Ukraine to Russia.

On the subject: Zelensky to Washington Accompanied by EU Leaders to Protect Him from Trump Pressure

"Dear President Putin," the letter begins, "Every child holds the same quiet dreams in their hearts, whether they are born by chance in the rural hinterland or in the glorious city center. They dream of love, opportunity, and security."

“The simple but profound message, Mr. Putin, as I am sure you will agree, is that the descendants of each generation begin their lives with purity — an innocence that transcends geography, government, and ideology,” the first lady wrote. “Yet in today’s world, some children are forced to carry within them a quiet laughter, untouched by the surrounding darkness — a silent challenge to the forces that might lay claim to their future.”

Instead of calling on Putin to return the children his government took from their home country, the letter vaguely calls on the Russian president to "give them back their melodious laughter."

“Such a bold idea transcends all human divisions, and you, Mr. Putin, have the power to make this vision a reality with the stroke of a pen today,” Melania Trump’s letter concludes. “The time has come.”

Slovenian-born Melania Trump did not attend the August 15 peace summit between Trump and Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

But she has previously said that her aspiration as first lady was to be like Eleanor Roosevelt, who was known for her work on behalf of children's rights and welfare during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Ukraine has called the abduction of tens of thousands of its children, taken without the consent of their families or guardians to Russia or territories under Russian occupation, a war crime, which falls under the definition of genocide in a UN treaty.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his gratitude to the US First Lady during a telephone conversation with Trump on August 16, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga reported.

“During the conversation, President Zelensky expressed gratitude to First Lady Melania Trump for her sincere attention and efforts aimed at the return of forcibly deported Ukrainian children,” Sybiga wrote in X. “This is a true act of humanism.”

Ahead of the August 15 summit, the White House said Russia's kidnapping of more than 20 Ukrainian children "remains a concern" for Trump, seven months into his second term. Moscow has previously claimed it was protecting vulnerable children from fighting.

The issue made headlines again in early August when the NGO Save Ukraine accused Russia of “state-run child trafficking” after a group of officials in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine published a “catalogue of Ukrainian orphans” online.

The organization's head, Mykola Kuleba, said the database, hosted by the education ministry of the Russian-installed administration in the Luhansk region, contains data on 294 Ukrainian children under 17 who were separated from their parents.

Kuleba noted that the website contains names, photographs, descriptions of personal qualities and hobbies of children.

“Russia is not even trying to hide it anymore,” Kuleba said. “They are openly trafficking Ukrainian children. The way they describe our children is no different from a slave catalog. This is real child trafficking in the 21st century, which the world must stop.”

Following the news of the First Lady's letter, the Bring Kids Back UA initiative expressed gratitude to Melania Trump for her attention: "Deep gratitude to [the First Lady] for such sincere concern for the fate of the children of Ukraine. Every word of support brings them closer to their families, communities, and home."

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American lawmakers have demanded the return of Ukraine's children from Russia before any peace deal is reached, and in July introduced a congressional resolution calling for their return.

Spearheaded by Texas Republican Michael McCaul and New York Democrat Gregory Meeks, the resolution condemns Russia’s abduction, forced transfer, and facilitation of the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. In the U.S. Senate, a similar document was introduced by Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley and Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar.

Miks said: "The Russian military has brutally kidnapped and illegally deported tens of thousands of Ukrainian children from their homeland."

"These atrocities are not isolated incidents," Meeks concluded. "They are a direct consequence of the war."

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