By Steve Holland and Ryan Patrick Jones
WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) – US first lady Melania Trump has secured a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky, which will begin next Thursday, the White House said on Friday.
The chief of staff of Russian forces, Valery Gerasimov, said on the Defence Ministry’s Telegram channel that Russian troops would halt fire from 4 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) on Tuesday to allow for the humanitarian operation to start.
Residents of the southern Ukrainian city, occupied by Russian forces since February 2022, have reported a deepening food crisis.
“Both nations agreed to temporarily stop all military action in Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and to prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe passageway,” a White House statement said.
Ukraine’s top negotiator, David Arakhamia, said on Telegram that the humanitarian operation would start once a ceasefire was in place.
He said the accord, the result of a long process involving Melania Trump and Pope Leo, would set up a humanitarian corridor for residents to leave and allow assistance into the town.
In Moscow, the Kremlin welcomed the agreement. It praised Melania Trump’s role in securing the agreement and said President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed details.
The Kremlin said earlier this week that work was under way to ease the humanitarian situation in Oleshky after Putin told the pope he was ready to cooperate on the issue.
The development comes as President Trump pressures Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to reach an agreement with Putin to end the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
FIRST LADY HAS SOUGHT TO HELP UKRAINIAN CHILDREN
Melania Trump has been active in trying to get Ukrainian children seized by Russia during the war returned to their families.
“The situation in Oleshky is dire. Oleshky is a front-line war city on the brink of disaster. Oleshky’s remaining population is comprised primarily of elderly residents who urgently need medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water,” Melania Trump said in the statement.
The ceasefire will allow non-military teams from both countries to visit residents in their homes and coordinate transportation for those wishing to evacuate to either Russia or Ukraine, with an unnamed American media organization accompanying the teams to document the process, the first lady said.
Newsmax, a right-leaning news outlet, said in a report that its cameras would be granted “exclusive access to document the effort.”
Oleshky, located across the Dnipro River from the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson, has a remaining population of 1,700 to 2,000 people — primarily elderly residents, along with about 50 children — down from roughly 24,000 before the war, the White House said. About 90% of the city was flooded following the 2023 destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, according to the White House.
The statement said Melania Trump and her representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to define the terms of the localized ceasefire.
“Residents who wish to evacuate will receive coordinated support and transportation to their preferred destination. I anticipate some will want to go to Russia, and some to Ukraine,” Melania Trump said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Susan Heavey; Writing by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; Editing by Katharine Jackson, David Ljunggren, Caitlin Webber, Rod Nickel and Ron Popeski)
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