US First Lady Melania Trump addressed a personal letter to Vladimir Putin, in which she raised the issue of the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia. The document, whose existence had not been previously reported, was handed over by Donald Trump to the Russian leader during negotiations in Alaska.
This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
US President's wife Melania Trump joined the international discussion about the fate of Ukrainian children illegally taken to Russia. As two high-ranking White House officials told Reuters, the First Lady personally wrote a letter to Vladimir Putin, in which she raised the humanitarian issue of the situation of children who became victims of the war.
President Donald Trump handed this letter to the Russian leader during their meeting in Alaska. At the same time, Melania Trump, a native of Slovenia, did not participate in the trip itself.
Sources clarified that the content of the document is not disclosed, but it is known that it mentioned the abduction of Ukrainian children and the need to solve this problem.
Ukraine has repeatedly emphasized that the forced removal of tens of thousands of minors without the consent of parents or guardians is a war crime and falls under the definition of genocide according to the UN Convention.
Moscow, however, traditionally states that it "evacuates children from hostilities," while international organizations refute these arguments.
According to estimates by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Russia has caused severe suffering to millions of Ukrainian children and violated their basic rights since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
Melania Trump's letter, which has only now become known, may signal the US administration's intention to pay more attention to the humanitarian dimension of the war and emphasize the international significance of the problem of the abduction of Ukrainian children.