Melania Trump to bring Ukrainian and Russian officials together at the White House

Melania Trump is set to pull off a diplomatic first at the White House. The US first lady will host representatives from Russia and Ukraine on Thursday, her office said, putting officials from two actively warring nations in the same room. Russia's state-owned TASS reported Wednesday that Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev and human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova plan to attend, provided all logistical arrangements work out, per Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, confirmed he is making the trip. In a Wednesday Facebook post, he said important meetings lie ahead and asked followers what single message they would send to the first lady if they could. Melania Trump is expected to speak at the White House at 11:00 am local time Thursday.

Her office framed the sit-down in blunt terms. It said the first lady will personally bring representatives of the two nations together at the White House, and called the effort an unprecedented diplomatic initiative by an American first lady.

The groundwork has been building for weeks. Melania Trump announced a localized truce last month to let residents of Oleshky, on the southern front, leave after weeks of shortages of food and medicine, and both sides honored the halt in fighting. Roads were demined and civilians departed for either Ukraine or Russia, and her office said she independently initiated the engagement to secure the ceasefire in Oleshky and the surrounding Kherson region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky handed her the Order of Princess Olga, First Class, on Wednesday for that role.

The meeting lands at a delicate moment. Moscow's full-scale invasion is grinding through its fifth year, and a recent rapprochement between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has stirred worries in Kyiv that Washington could turn its back on Ukraine.

Zelensky said he held very detailed, hour-and-a-half-long conversations with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ahead of next week's meeting in Abu Dhabi, the first talks involving all three sides since February. The White House gathering has revived hopes for peace. The first lady has also been involved in efforts to return Ukrainian children taken to Russia.