The White House has said United States First Lady Melania Trump has “secured a ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine in the southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky, which has been occupied by Russia since February 2022, Al Jazeera reports.
Following the announcement on Friday, a senior Ukrainian official told the Reuters news agency that a ceasefire in Oleshky would be established soon. A Kremlin spokesman said the military was working on coordinating the timing.
It comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump has renewed diplomacy aimed at ending the war. The approach has included upping pressure on Ukraine and handing several recent concessions to Russia.
“The situation in Oleshky is dire. Oleshky is a front line war city on the brink of disaster,” Melania Trump said in a statement released by the White House.
“The people of Oleshky have limited electricity, live amid mined roads, and endure regular military attacks. It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible,” she said.
The first lady added that her representatives worked directly with “Russian and Ukrainian leadership to define the terms of the localised ceasefire” and that civilian leaders from both countries will work together to grant humanitarian access to civilians in the city.
Oleshky, which had a population of 24,000 people before the war, sits along the southeastern front of the conflict. It was captured by Russia during the first day of the full-scale invasion in February 2022 and experienced heavy shelling.
