Source close to US officials says Putin enabled truce for Trump’s midterms
Competing accounts have emerged of who made possible the six-day truce that let hundreds of residents of the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky evacuate. A source who works in the local government of the Kherson region told the BBC that work on the evacuation had been ongoing for almost a year, and that others became involved and took credit after most of the groundwork had already been laid. A source close to American officials, meanwhile, implied to the BBC that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made the ceasefire possible.
Hundreds of residents of Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, were able to evacuate during the six-day ceasefire last week after facing starvation and constant bombardment. The evacuees arrived in Ukraine after a journey through southern Russia and Belarus. Both Moscow and Kyiv credited US First Lady Melania Trump with brokering the truce, the most enduring and widespread pause in the fighting of the war so far.
At an unusual White House event, Melania Trump called for a “more enduring” ceasefire in Ukraine and welcomed the delegations of Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, and his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, along with Ukrainian MP Davyd Arakhamia and Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev. The meeting took place away from the setting of official US-brokered peace talks the two countries have held without success since last year.
Melania Trump has generally remained discreet on foreign policy matters, and neither Moscow nor Kyiv has elaborated on the nature or extent of her involvement in coordinating the ceasefire. The Kherson local-government source said work on the Oleshky evacuation had been ongoing for almost a year. However, the source said, “at a certain point other individuals became involved, seemingly after most of the groundwork had already been laid and subsequently began taking credit for the progress that had been made.” It was difficult to determine exactly who had played what role and at which stage of the process, the source acknowledged, adding that “those who had been directly involved in the negotiations for nearly a year were eventually prohibited from communicating publicly about the matter.”
Speaking after the White House meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the ceasefire’s success “had proved a very simple thing: when Putin wants the fighting to stop, it stops.” “The same applies to our people who are held in Russian captivity. When Putin wants, they go home,” he said.
A source close to American officials shared a similar assessment, implying to the BBC that, despite the outward praise, “the person who made [the ceasefire] possible, whether we like it or not, is essentially Putin.” “And this was done in order to pass the ball to [Donald] Trump… so that it would have some positive effect for his midterm elections,” the source said.
There has been no change whatsoever in Russia’s position, the Ukrainian political analyst Dmytro Levus told the BBC. Moscow “agreed to it because there was pressure from the American side… In doing so, the Russians confirmed Zelenskyy’s words that, when necessary, it turns out Russia can quickly stop firing and even maintain that ceasefire,” he said.
Melania Trump was credited by all for playing a key though unspecified role in the ceasefire, and all parties conveyed to her the gratitude of the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. She thanked both Zelensky and Putin, making no reference to the origins of the war, which began when the Russian president launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and which has caused thousands of civilian casualties and the displacement of millions. At the end of the event, she handed Dmitriev and Arakhamia two letters to be hand-delivered to their respective presidents.
“The lives of innocent people must transcend the division of war. I hope Oleshky inspires greater peace,” Melania Trump said. She said she had “reviewed demining plans, aerial images, assessed roadways, and discussed evacuation routes, hospital access, vehicles, and medical resources” during the truce. “Last week in Oleshky and neighbouring areas of Kherson, people experienced the simple joys of life for the first time since 2022,” she said. “They walked down familiar streets without fear of explosions.”
Dmitriev, a businessman and Kremlin special envoy who has previously represented Moscow during peace talks with Ukraine, thanked Melania Trump for “saving and touching so many lives”. “Let us continue making a humanitarian contribution together; this is within our power,” he said, before presenting her with a framed drawing by an 11-year-old Oleshky evacuee. He also praised her work on reuniting children separated from their families by the war, including children allegedly abducted by Russia.
Arakhamia, who heads Zelensky’s party in Ukraine’s parliament and has been part of the Ukrainian negotiating team, called the Oleshky ceasefire the “biggest de-escalation since 2022”. “We are creating a momentum where both sides are learning the… mechanics of how to actually keep the peace when the peace comes,” he said. He acknowledged that the “political track” of negotiations to end the conflict was “complex”, but said Ukrainians were asking Melania Trump “to keep going and find new missions and de-escalate more.”
The White House said the first lady had invited her guests to view two historic artifacts she had “personally selected as powerful symbols of peace”. One was an 18th Century medicine chest removed from the White House when the British set it on fire in 1812. “Once adversaries, the United States and Great Britain ultimately established a strong alliance,” the White House said. The second was a cup gifted in 1899 to the French ambassador in recognition of his efforts to bring the Spanish-American war to an end.
The pause did not extend beyond Kherson. As the frontline region experienced its first six days of peace in several years, the rest of Ukraine continued to come under Russian attack. Several drone and missile strikes this week, after the six-day truce ended, killed and injured civilians across the country, and on Monday alone more than 40 people were killed in a single Russian strike on an aid distribution centre in the Zaporizhzhia region. More are thought to still be buried under the rubble.
Ukraine has awarded Melania Trump the Order of Princess Olha, 1st Class, for her “significant personal contribution to humanitarian support for Ukraine.”