When Donald Trump met Vladimir Putin for the first time in six years on Friday, he brought with him a secret weapon – a letter from his wife.
Melania Trump’s message to Putin appeared to urge the Russian President to end the war in Ukraine and highlighted the plight of children caught in the middle of the conflict.
The note, which Donald Trump handed to his fellow leader in Alaska, did not refer directly to the war, but said ‘it is time’ to change things, reported Fox News.
‘Every child shares the same quiet dreams in their heart,’ it said. ‘They dream of love, possibility, and safety from danger.’
‘As parents, it is our duty to nurture the next generation’s hope. As leaders, the responsibility to sustain our children extends beyond the comfort of a few.’
The letter said leaders must strive for a world where ‘every soul may wake to peace’, adding that ‘each generation’s descendants begin their lives with a purity – an innocence which stands above geography, government, and ideology’.
In an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine, the note continued: ‘Yet in today’s world, some children are forced to carry a quiet laughter, untouched by the darkness around them – a silent defiance against the forces that can potentially claim their future.
‘Mr. Putin, you can singlehandedly restore their melodic laughter.’
The Russian President would be able to protect these children with ‘a stroke of the pen today’, she wrote.
Melania’s so-called ‘peace letter’ was hand-delivered by her husband to Putin on Friday during their summit in Anchorage, Alaska.
It marks the latest intervention from Slovenian-born Melania, who was raised in the former Yugoslavia. She is said to have been influential in pushing Donald Trump to try and secure peace in Ukraine.
Last month, the President said: ‘My conversations with him [Putin] are always very pleasant. I say, isn’t that a very lovely conversation? And then the missiles go off that night.
‘I go home, I tell the first lady: “I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation”. She said: “Really? Another city was just hit.”’
The high-stakes meeting on Friday was the first summit between the two countries since 2021, which was before Putin invaded Ukraine.
Read Melania Trump’s letter to Vladimir Putin in full
Dear President Putin,
Every child shares the same quiet dreams in their heart, whether born randomly into a nation’s rustic countryside or a magnificent city-center. They dream of love, possibility, and safety from danger.
As parents, it is our duty to nurture the next generation’s hope. As leaders, the responsibility to sustain our children extends beyond the comfort of a few.
Undeniably, we must strive to paint a dignity-filled world for all – so that every soul may wake to peace, and so that the future itself is perfectly guarded.
A simple yet profound concept, Mr. Putin, as I am sure you agree, is that each generation’s descendants begin their lives with a purity – an innocence which stands above geography, government, and ideology.
Yet in today’s world, some children are forced to carry a quiet laughter, untouched by the darkness around them – a silent defiance against the forces that can potentially claim their future. Mr. Putin, you can singlehandedly restore their melodic laughter.
In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone – you serve humanity itself. Such a bold idea transcends all human division, and you, Mr. Putin, are fit to implement this vision with a stroke of the pen today.
It is time.
Sincerely,
Melania Trump
Melania has also voiced support for Ukraine since the war began, previously encouraging her social media followers to donate to the Red Cross.
A report by the United Nations earlier this year said 669 children had been killed between the start of the war and the end of 2024, though it added that the actual numbers are likely much higher.
Over the same timeframe, an estimated 737,000 children had been internally displaced by the hostilities and a further 1.7 million were refugees, many separated from a parent.
Since the meeting ended, Putin has said it was ‘very useful’.
Trump said the summit was ‘extremely productive,’ but that the parties were ‘not there yet’ on ending the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to travel to Washington D.C. to meet with Trump on Monday.
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