Melania Trump sends letter to Putin on child abductions
US First Lady, Melania Trump, raised the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia in a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, two White House officials said.
Officials told Reuters that President Donald Trump hand-delivered the letter to Putin during their talks in Alaska, with Slovenian-born Melania Trump not present on the trip to Anchorage.
The officials would not divulge the contents of the letter other than to say it mentioned the abductions of children resulting from the war in Ukraine.
The existence of the letter had not been reported previously. Ukraine has called the abduction of tens of thousands of its children to Russia or Russian-occupied territories without the consent of their families or guardians a war crime that meets the definition of genocide under the United Nations treaty.
In response, Moscow has previously said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has said Russia has inflicted suffering on millions of Ukrainian children and violated their rights since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine begun in 2022.
Trump and Putin met for two-and-a-half hours at a US military base in Anchorage but failed to reach a ceasefire deal in the war in Ukraine.
‘Putin is in no hurry to end this war’
It could have been so much worse. That’s the view from most staying up late into the night to watch the Alaska talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin from Kyiv, according to DW’s correspondent in the Ukrainian capital, Nick Connolly.
While we still haven’t heard Trump’s full version of events, it seems like the thing Ukrainians feared most hasn’t happened: a demand for Ukraine to hand over territory as a prerequisite to any deal.
Instead, it seemed like Putin wanted to talk about anything but Ukraine, ranging from World War II to business. And when he did talk about the war he unleashed in Ukraine, he also referenced history.
Putin said that the root causes of this war would need to be addressed. That is shorthand for reversing Ukraine’s and Eastern Europe’s Western integration. Maybe even reversing NATO expansion. It is also exactly what Putin was talking about when he invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Until his demands are met in full, it seems that Putin is in no hurry to end this war. This puts him at odds with his hosts. Many in Ukraine are now wondering if, after today’s warm words and red carpet treatment, Trump might try the stick — in the form of new sanctions — rather than just the carrot to get Putin to finally budge.
‘It’s really up to Zelenskyy to get it done,’ Trump says
US President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he spoke “very sincerely” with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their joint press conference.
“He made a very good speech and I also finished it up,” Trump told Hannity. “Right after that, we spoke very sincerely. I think he wants to see it done.”
The US leader went on to say that Putin would set up a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an effort to try to reach a ceasefire, but added it was up to latter to accept a deal.
“Now, it’s really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done,” Trump added. “And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit. But it’s up to President Zelenskyy… And if they’d like, I’ll be at that next meeting.”
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/trump-admits-he-and-putin-did-not-reach-key-agreements/live-73647632
