According to Taiwan’s Liberty Times and international media, the White House said Melania Trump initiated discussions with both countries and helped define the terms as ‘exclusive intermediary’. The truce covers only Oleshky and its surroundings and focuses on safe evacuation and humanitarian access. Its duration and other details were not disclosed.

Oleshky lies across the Dnipro River from the city of Kherson and has been occupied by Russian forces since February 2022. The Kyiv Independent reported that Russian forces have effectively blockaded the town and blocked aid, while civilians fleeing along the only roads out are frequently targeted by drones. In her statement, the first lady called Oleshky a front-line city ‘on the brink of disaster’, citing scarce electricity and mined roads.

Trump: returning children to their families

President Donald Trump told reporters that Melania wants to save the children and is focused on that. He said both Ukraine and Russia cooperated with the first lady, that the idea was hers, and that they had agreed to a ceasefire in a very difficult place. He added that he expected some residents to want to go to Russia and some to Ukraine.

On the Russian side, Ukrainian outlet UNN reported that Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov declared a ceasefire regime in Oleshky from the night of the 27th for a humanitarian operation. The start date Trump referred to was reported as the 29th, so the exact timing could not be confirmed. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the military was coordinating the timing and credited the first lady’s contribution.

David Arakhamia, head of Ukraine’s ruling party faction in parliament, said the ceasefire would start soon with the aim of creating permanent humanitarian corridors, and thanked President Trump and Pope Leo XIV. A direct statement from President Volodymyr Zelensky could not be confirmed. International media noted that the truce is a local humanitarian measure, far from a ceasefire in the wider war.