WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Ukrainian negotiator involved in a humanitarian mission led by U.S. first lady Melania Trump told The Associated Press that a local ceasefire with Russia would begin Tuesday — two days before the mission begins — and last for several days.
Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States reached an agreement Friday to provide humanitarian aid to the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in the war-divided Kherson region of southern Ukraine.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s mediator and his country’s chief negotiator in the negotiations, said the ceasefire would come into effect in the Kherson region and neighboring areas critical to the operation. He added that the initiative could serve as a model for future humanitarian missions.
The White House said Melania Trump began discussions after learning of the situation during an event she hosted during the United Nations General Assembly session last month. She said she and a representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leaders to hammer out the terms of the ceasefire. Russian officials also confirmed this agreement.
Lubinets on Friday thanked Melania Trump for her involvement and said the deal would be difficult to close. He said the agreement included a ceasefire, followed by the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid. Finally, civilians will be allowed to leave Oleshky, he said in a video message posted online.
“The operation will take place gradually and is extremely difficult to implement,” Lubinets said.
Mine clearance comes first
Lubinets said the operation would involve mine clearance on the road to Oleshky before the physical delivery of humanitarian aid and the organization of evacuations.
He gave no further details on how the ceasefire or aid mission would be monitored or implemented, citing the sensitivity of the negotiations. He declined to comment when asked whether Melania Trump would visit Ukraine, but called her involvement invaluable.
“When Melania Trump learned about the situation in Oleshky, the negotiation process began under her coordination,” he said. “For several weeks, we discussed many issues, initiatives and ideas. We established new approaches, mechanisms and tools to do everything possible to help Oleshky civilians survive.”
AP AUDIO: Melania Trump helps broker ceasefire deal in Russian-occupied Ukrainian city, White House says
The White House announced that first lady Melania Trump has negotiated an upcoming ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the war-ravaged Ukrainian town of Oleshky to allow humanitarian aid and the evacuation of civilians. As President Donald Trump left the White House, she was asked if she would participate in the trilateral negotiations.
Russian Chief of Staff General Valery Gerasimov said Russian forces will “cease fire on the Kherson axis” from 4 a.m. Tuesday in Moscow “as part of the humanitarian operation near Olechky.” Russian forces will also carry out “technical reconnaissance” and ensure “the safe movement of the humanitarian convoy” to the city, Gerasimov said.
Russian human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova confirmed on Friday that Melania Trump had negotiated a deal on “organizing a humanitarian mission” to Oleshky. Lantratova, who said she participated in the negotiations, said providing such assistance was Russia’s priority.
The first step will be to clarify what people need and organize the delivery of food, medicine, hygiene products and other essentials, Lantratova said in an online statement. Safe passage will be guaranteed for anyone wishing to leave the combat zone, she said, adding that this will require respecting the ceasefire and creating safe conditions for humanitarian vehicles.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was grateful to the first lady. He said Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump recently discussed the effort.
Peskov said that “those who want to leave it will be able to do so.” He did not say whether they would be taken to territory held by Russia or Ukraine. He also hesitated when asked how long the evacuation would last, saying only that it would likely take several days.
Saving children is first lady’s priority, says president
Melania Trump made helping children in conflict zones one of her priorities during her husband’s second term. She hosted a meeting of the UN Security Council on the issue earlier this year, and last year Putin wrote about efforts to reunite families with children who have been moved by war. She helped reunite nearly three dozen children, according to her senior adviser, Marc Beckman.
“What she wants is to save children, and that’s her goal,” the president said of his wife during a question-and-answer exchange with reporters at the White House.
Beckman described the first lady’s work on the ceasefire as an extension of her efforts to help reunite Russian and Ukrainian children with their families after they were separated by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Tensions increase between Washington and Kyiv
The development comes as tensions increased to new heights between the Trump administration and the Ukrainian government. kyiv faces restrictions on the satellite internet system it relies on to neutralize Russian attacks, along with Trump and other top U.S. officials. send mixed messages about who was responsible for limiting the Starshield system made by Elon Musk.
Trump also recently renounced new sanctions against Russiaconcluded an agreement with Russia to import diesel fuel and pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reach a deal to end the war that Russia started in February 2022. As part of renewed efforts to relaunch the peace processTrump envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Norway this week for talks with Zelensky before meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Zelensky did not mention the ceasefire to Oleshky during a remote appearance at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank. He noted that US Patriot missile interceptors were still on standby and Starshield and Starlink speed limits were still in effect.
He also spoke of the importance of the United States renewing its diplomatic efforts to end the war, including a possible joint meeting with Trump and Putin.
The situation in Oleshky is dire
Food and medical supplies have been scarce for months in Oleshky, located on the Dnipro River that separates Ukrainian forces from the town’s Russian occupiers. There is no electricity, no heating, no running water. The roads leading to the city are mined and strewn with burned cars. Drones buzz above us.
Oleshky, once a town of about 24,000 inhabitants, was captured by Moscow forces on the first day of their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Its buildings were bombed and burned and its infrastructure damaged. In June 2023, floodwaters inundated the city after the collapse of the Kakhovka dam following an explosion which an Associated Press investigation The discovery was probably caused by the Russian army. Hundreds of residents were killed.
Those who remain in the town along Ukraine’s southeastern front face starvation or disease as another harsh winter looms. Ukraine has repeatedly called for a local ceasefire to organize evacuations. Russia, as the occupying power, is required by international law to ensure that civilians under its control have what they need to survive.
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Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin and Darlene Superville in Washington, Volodymyr Yurchuk, Derek Gatopoulos and Susie Blann in kyiv, Ukraine, and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
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