Melania Trump touts her diplomatic role as Russia-Ukraine peace eludes her husband

By Betsy Klein, CNN

(CNN) — First lady Melania Trump hosted representatives from the highest levels of Russia’s and Ukraine’s governments at the White House on Thursday to celebrate the conclusion of a localized ceasefire — a humanitarian breakthrough, albeit limited, that came as President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war have so far failed.

The brief ceremony — just two days after her husband’s massive midterm defeat that Republicans are blaming on his Iran war — highlighted the first lady’s positioning as a diplomat.

Melania Trump and her outside senior adviser Marc Beckman — whom she and the foreign representatives credited throughout Thursday’s event — negotiated the three-day ceasefire in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine that has been on the front lines of the war. Hundreds of civilians were evacuated, and humanitarian aid was brought in.

“I was involved in every stage of the planning. I reviewed demining plans, aerial images, assessed roadways, and discussed evacuation routes, hospital access, vehicles, and medical resources,” Melania Trump said.

Speaking in the Cross Hall, the first lady expressed hope that the ceasefire would be a “spark” that could “build a powerful flame of peace” in the war, which has lasted more than four years.

Her husband had promised to end the conflict on “day one” of his second term, but he and his top negotiators, son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff, haven’t secured a peace deal. US officials are expected to mediate “working-level negotiations” between Russia and Ukraine next week in Abu Dhabi.

As his ambitions for peace in the region have floundered, the president has faced bipartisan criticism for cozying up to Russia, especially in recent weeks after he waived sanctions related to Russian fossil fuel sales and again criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Trump administration and the Kremlin are also discussing sanctions relief for Russia’s multibillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund, whose CEO attended Melania Trump’s event. Kirill Dmitriev, a top envoy to Russian President Vladimir Putin, praised her “crucial leadership role” in the limited ceasefire.

Dmitriev was placed under international sanctions by several countries, including the United States under the Biden administration, following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But the Trump administration first temporarily lifted sanctions against him in April 2025 to allow the State Department to grant him a visa to come to the US for talks on strengthening relations between the two countries.

Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Yana Lantratova — who’s under sanctions by the US, EU and others — was also in attendance on Thursday. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office and Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, accused her of orchestrating the forced deportation of two Ukrainian children — an 11-month-old girl and an almost 2-year-old boy — from occupied Ukraine into Russia. Melania Trump has championed her role in the reunification of children separated from their families during the war, saying in October that she and Putin have had an “open channel” of communication.

Thursday’s event came just hours after dozens of people were killed when Russia dropped at least nine bombs on a school building in southeastern Ukraine where they had taken shelter, Zelensky said, describing it as “one of the deadliest attacks of this war.”

Zelensky praised the limited ceasefire on Thursday.

“We’ve just had a humanitarian operation in Oleshky, which we coordinated together with the first lady of the United States. And this operation proved something very simple — when Putin wants the fighting to stop, it stops. There was real silence. No attacks. For some days. And we saved hundreds of lives,” he said at the Ibero-American Summit in Spain.

Ukrainians also praised the ceasefire at the White House event, with David Arakhamia, a lawmaker and negotiator, saying, “We are creating a momentum where both sides are learning these little mechanics — how to actually keep the peace when the peace comes.”

And Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s ombudsman, presented state awards to both Trump and Beckman, who is not a government official but whose outsized role in the limited ceasefire was touted by both sides.

“Without Marc, I think nothing would be happening. It’s 24-hour work,” Arakhamia said.

Beckman, an advertising executive turned “exclusive senior adviser” to Melania Trump, helped negotiate her $40 million Amazon documentary deal and has advised her communications throughout the second Trump term, frequently appearing on conservative news outlets on her behalf.

The first lady has made rare public appearances this term, choosing instead to engage behind the scenes in more substantive policy work.

And while she actively avoided the 2026 midterm campaign trail because she prefers not to be involved in politics — and the West Wing did not seek her presence, sources told CNN — she’s been quietly focused on issues with more bipartisan appeal than some of her husband’s top priorities.

Besides negotiating the localized ceasefire, her work has included lobbying for legislation aimed at protecting Americans from deepfake and revenge porn and advocating for children aging out of foster care.

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CNN’s Ivana Kottasová contributed to this report.