Updated: Melania Trump wrote letter to Putin about protecting children
Updated: Melania Trump wrote letter to Putin about protecting children
Editor's Note: This article was updated with additional details after U.S. President Donald Trump published the letter to social media on Aug. 17.
U.S. First Lady Melania Trump wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin concerning Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children as he arrived in Alaska to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, Reuters reported on Aug. 16.
Trump handed the letter to Putin during the two leaders' nearly three-hour meeting on Aug. 15, two White House officials told Reuters. While the officials did not specify the letter's contents, they said it raised the plight of Russia kidnapping Ukrainian children.
Trump later published the full letter to his social media platform Truth Social on Aug. 17 in response to criticism of his meeting with Putin.
"Every child shares the same quiet dreams in their hearts, whether born randomly into a nation's rustic countryside or a magnificent city-center. They dream of love, possibility and safety from danger," the letter begins.
The letter does not specifically mention returning deported Ukrainian children. Neither Ukraine nor the war are mentioned directly; instead, the letter appeals to Putin to protect the innocence of children and alludes to a future peace deal.
"Mr. Putin, you can singlehandedly restore their melodic laughter ... with a stroke of the pen today."
A letter from U.S. First Lady Melania Trump delivered to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Alaska Summit on Aug. 15, 2025. (Donald Trump / Truth Social)
Trump posted the letter after a series of posts lashing out at the media and U.S. Democrats for criticism of his meeting with Putin, which did not result in a peace deal and saw Trump immediately backpedaling his promises to ensure a ceasefire.
Melania Trump did not attend the summit, during which the U.S. rolled out the red carpet for the Russian dictator. Trump said he and Putin agreed on many points, but that there was still a way to go before reaching a peace deal in Ukraine.
The First Lady is an immigrant from Slovenia who was born in former Communist Yugoslavia. According to President Trump, she drew his attention to Russia's intensifying campaign of missile attacks in summer 2025.
Ukraine has identified more than 19,500 children abducted by Russia during the full-scale war and forcibly transferred to Russia, the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, or Belarus. Only 1,509 have been brought back home.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin and his Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for kidnapping Ukrainian children.
The U.S. is not part of the ICC and wasn't obliged to arrest Putin during his visit.
Ukrainian officials estimate the real figure of abducted children could be far higher than the confirmed nearly 20,000. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets puts the number at up to 150,000, while Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Daria Herasymchuk has given a range of 200,000–300,000.
During their time in Russia, the children are placed in Russian families or camps, often undergo military training, and are subjected to intense propaganda designed to erase their Ukrainian identity. Those who have returned report being punished for speaking Ukrainian and told that their homeland no longer wants them.
Russian occupation authorities in Ukraine created an online "catalog" where children are offered up for adoption while sorted based on physical traits like eye or hair color. The practice is child trafficking, said the head of Ukrainian NGO Save Ukraine, Mykola Kuleba.
Ukraine has repeatedly said that the return of its abducted children must be part of any peace agreement with Russia.