• First Lady Melania Trump announced that communication with Putin has facilitated the return of Ukrainian children.
• Eight children have been reunited with their families in the last 24 hours, according to her statements.
• Discussions involved details on the welfare of children affected by the conflict and commitments for future reunifications.

First Lady Melania Trump revealed that she has established an "open channel of communication" with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the welfare of Ukrainian children affected by the ongoing war. In a recent announcement, she indicated that eight displaced children were returned to their families within the last 24 hours, showcasing a significant development amidst the humanitarian crisis associated with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, according to abcnews, reuters, and bbc.

During her remarks, Melania Trump emphasized the importance of cooperation through months of diplomacy, which began with a letter she sent to Putin last August. In her letter, she urged him to consider the plight of children impacted by the war, and since then, both sides have engaged in several backchannel meetings to discuss the reunification efforts, according to thehill and aljazeera.

Melania described that her representative has been directly working with Putin’s team to ensure the safe reunification of children separated from their families by the war. She noted that among the eight children returned, three were taken to Russia due to frontline displacement, while five were separated from family members across borders, according to cbsnews and lemonde.

In her address, the First Lady reiterated that this effort is ongoing and stressed her hope that more children would be reunited with their families soon. She acknowledged the gravity of the situation, mentioning that over 19,000 children have been recorded as displaced during the conflict, with many remaining unaccounted for, indicating the scale of the humanitarian issue at hand, according to indiatimes and trtglobal.

Her appearance marked a rare public statement from Melania Trump, showing her commitment to this humanitarian initiative. She expressed her intention to further promote transparency and cooperation in returning children to Ukraine, asserting that the welfare of children should transcend political conflicts, as emphasized during her speech, according to scmp and indiatimes.