WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump is expected to greet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife, Olena, on Tuesday.
Olena had repeatedly pushed for a meeting with the first lady, and the two have shared a passion for freeing the over 20,000 Ukrainian children alleged to have been abducted by the Russians during the bloody war, according to Marc Beckman, a senior adviser to the first lady.
“Mrs. Zelensky has reached out to several times to set up a meeting, but there’s no bilateral meeting. There’s nothing formal,” Beckman told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
“As our First Lady is very polite, she’s going to say hello today, but there’s no sit-down, substantive conversation set; no meeting set.”
Famously, President Trump in August handed Russian strongman Vladimir Putin a letter penned by Melania underscoring the importance of making peace for the sake of children.
That plea comes amid allegations from Ukraine and international watchdogs that Russia has been kidnapping children from its war-torn neighbor.
The Kremlin has been accused of putting some of them up for adoption, with the apparent intent of raising them to be Russian. Additionally, some of the kids have reportedly been sent off to military camps and have been used to fight the war in their country of birth.
Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of senators rolled out legislation to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism due to the abductions.
Melania has been seen by some observers as a key voice in the president’s ear to ramp up pressure on Putin.
The president has publicly riffed about how he would have amicable conversations with Putin, only to hear from his wife that Russia had carried out brutal bombings of civilian enclaves in Ukraine.
Olena’s overture to the first lady appears to be aimed at taking advantage of Melania’s influence on her husband.
Melania will address the United Nations General Assembly later in the day on Tuesday about her effort with the Fostering the Future Together initiative to help children around the world take advantage of new technologies.
Her husband addressed the UN earlier in the day at its Manhattan headquarters in a speech that ripped into the downsides of globalism — including mass migration and efforts to combat climate change.
The president is expected to meet with the Ukrainian president on Tuesday to discuss ongoing efforts to end the bloody war.
Following his Alaska summit with Putin last month, Trump has expressed support for ratcheting up secondary sanctions and tariff pressure on Moscow if other NATO allies go along with it.
