Key facts
- Ukrainian officials at the event included Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and David Arakhamia, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's parliamentary group.
- Russia was represented by Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Yana Lantratova, the country's commissioner for human rights.
- Melania Trump presented personal letters to be delivered to Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, without specifying their contents.
- Arakhamia called the operation the biggest de-escalation since the full-scale war began in 2022 and urged further missions.
- Lubinets presented Ukraine's Order of Princess Olga to the first lady for humanitarian work.
- The Kremlin has publicly ruled out further such humanitarian operations in the foreseeable future.
Melania Trump, wife of US President Donald Trump, hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House on November 5, 2026, to recognize a six-day ceasefire she helped broker in Oleshky, a city in Ukraine's southern Kherson Oblast under Russian occupation since 2022. The ceasefire lasted from October 27 to November 1 and allowed civilians wishing to leave to evacuate.
The Ukrainian delegation included Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and David Arakhamia, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's parliamentary group. Russia was represented by Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Yana Lantratova, the country's commissioner for human rights. Lantratova did not address the gathering; she has been under US sanctions since 2022 and would have needed a State Department waiver to travel to Washington.
Melania Trump praised what she called both countries' "shared commitment" to achieving a ceasefire and their "good faith efforts." She said: "Let Oleshky be the modest spark that grows into a flame of lasting peace." She presented personal letters to be delivered to Zelensky and Putin and did not specify their contents.
Dmitriev, invited to speak first, commemorated a Russian military deminer killed while preparing the evacuation and presented the first lady with a drawing from a young girl whose family had evacuated Oleshky, claiming the family chose to go to Russia. He referred to the full-scale war as the "Ukrainian crisis" and said Putin "admires" Trump's peacekeeping efforts.
Arakhamia praised the operation as "the biggest de-escalation" since the war began in 2022 and said residents of nearby Kherson also benefited. He told the first lady: "We would like you to keep going and find new missions and de-escalate as much as possible." Lubinets presented her with Ukraine's Order of Princess Olga for humanitarian work, including the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, and urged her to "keep doing this wonderful work."
The Kremlin has publicly ruled out further such humanitarian operations in the foreseeable future. The humanitarian crisis in Oleshky worsened in mid-2026, with residents facing shortages of food, drinking water, electricity and medical supplies as Russian forces effectively blockaded the town.