U.S. First Lady Appeals to Putin’s Humanity: ‘Restore Their Melodic Laughter

Kiev (The Uttam Hindu): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak has thanked US First Lady Melania Trump. Melania had written a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the safety of deported Ukrainian children.

“The Russian President is grateful for Melania Trump’s letter to Putin,” Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote in a social media post on Saturday.

“The return of Ukrainian children held by Russian authorities must be a key condition for any peace agreement,” Yermak wrote.

According to the Ukraine Conflict Observatory, run by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab, more than 35,000 Ukrainian children were abducted during the war and taken to more than 100 locations in Russia and Russian-occupied territories.

Melania Trump wrote a letter to Putin, which US President Donald Trump handed over to her in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday.

"We must envision a world of dignity for all, so that every soul can wake up in peace and the future is secure. Putin, I'm sure you'll agree, a simple but profound concept that demands that each generation of descendants begin their lives with purity. An innocence that transcends geographic boundaries, governments, and ideologies," the US First Lady wrote.

Melania Trump said that Putin alone can bring smiles back to children's faces. By protecting the innocence of children, you will also serve humanity. Such a bold idea transcends all human discrimination, and you can do it today. This is the time. As parents, it is our duty to nurture the hope of the next generation. As a leader, this duty becomes even greater.

A White House official told the media on Saturday that President Trump handed this letter to Putin ahead of their important summit in Alaska.

Melania Trump was not at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, near Anchorage, where the meeting between US and Russian officials lasted about three hours.

The United Nations criticized Russia in March for the suffering children in Ukraine have suffered as a result of the nearly three-and-a-half-year-long war. Russia had previously argued that it was rescuing children from conflict zones. More than 19,000 children have been deported from Ukraine to Russia. The Ukrainian government says the actual number is much higher.

Zelensky told reporters ahead of the Trump-Putin summit on Tuesday that Moscow was obstructing negotiations over the return of Ukrainian children.