Melania Trump has said eight Ukrainian children have been reunited with their families following ongoing talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In August, the first lady wrote a letter to Putin, and her husband hand delivered it during his meeting with the Russian president in Alaska.
The invasion of Ukraine has seen children being taken out of their country by Russia: In June, the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University estimated that more than 35,000 had been taken to over 100 locations in Russia and occupied territories.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Mrs Trump said that Putin responded to her letter and that they have established an “open channel of communication” regarding the welfare of those children.
She said: “We have agreed to co-operate with each other for the benefit of all people involved in this war.”
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In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.
At the time, the Kremlin said that Russia found the questions raised by the ICC “outrageous and unacceptable”.
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They added the warrants are “null and void” as Russia does not recognise the ICC and has not signed up to the Rome Statutes – the treaty underpinning the world’s permanent war crimes tribunal.
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