Melania Trump hosting Ukraine, Russia representatives at White House

First lady Melania Trump will be hosting representatives from Russia and Ukraine at the White House, according to a Tuesday press release.

The announcement comes after the first lady secured a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the front-line city of Oleshky earlier this month.

“First Lady Melania Trump will personally bring representatives of Russia and Ukraine, two nations actively at war, together at the White House,” the release said. “This event represents an extraordinary moment in American history.”

The first lady is also scheduled to deliver remarks on the Oleshky ceasefire on Thursday at the White House, per the release.

The temporary pause in conflict , which started at 3 a.m. local time on Oct. 27, was set to last through Oct. 31 to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid. It was originally set to begin on Oct. 29.

In a statement posted to the social platform X on Oct. 27, the first lady said, “timing was accelerated two days ahead of schedule to protect the safety of civilians and to facilitate the delivery of critical humanitarian aid.”

“The ceasefire’s geographic area has expanded beyond Oleshky, within the Kherson Region, to provide safe passage for the humanitarian convoys,” she added.

Oleshky is in Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast on the east bank of the Dnieper River. The city had a prewar population of around 24,000 people and was pulled to the front line after Ukraine liberated western Kherson Oblast in November 2022, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War . About 2,000 people remained in the city following population displacement and evacuation.

In an earlier press release announcing the ceasefire, the first lady said, “the situation in Oleshky is dire. Oleshky is a front-line war city on the brink of disaster. Oleshky’s remaining population is comprised primarily of elderly residents who urgently need medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water.”

“It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible,” she added.

Earlier in October, Pope Leo XIV urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call to cooperate with Russia to allow humanitarian aid into Oleshky.