Melania Trump to host Russia, Ukraine representatives at the White House in rare meeting

Nov. 5, 2026, 7:38 AM EST / Updated Nov. 5, 2026, 7:48 AM ESTFirst lady Melania Trump will host representatives from Russia and Ukraine at the White House on Thursday, her latest diplomatic initiative after an unprecedented humanitarian ceasefire she helped broker between the warring sides.The meeting comes as the Trump administration pushes for progress in broader peace negotiations, with the United States set to lead renewed trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, next week. The losses suffered by Republicans in the midterm elections dealt a setback to President Donald Trump and his foreign policy, injecting yet more uncertainty into the American approach to the conflict.“This event represents an extraordinary moment in American history,” the White House said in a statement announcing Thursday’s meeting. It appears that this will be the first time both sides will meet face-to-face at the White House. It is unclear what exactly the gathering was designed to achieve and whether the president or any of his envoys would attend. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Oleshky resident evacuated from her Russian-occupied hometown, as they cross the Belarus-Ukraine border in the Chernyhiv region Oct. 31.Efrem Lukatsky / APPresident Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev and human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova, who coordinated the humanitarian ceasefire on the Russian side, were expected to represent Russia at the gathering, according to the Kremlin. Ukraine has not officially confirmed who will attend the meeting from its side, but the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ruling faction in parliament, David Arakhamia, will be part of the country’s delegation, his office told NBC News, signaling that attendees would be high-level officials. The gathering comes as Trump ramped up pressure on Kyiv and agreed on deals with the Kremlin in a bid to break a monthslong deadlock in negotiations to settle the war.Those efforts were boosted by the humanitarian truce, which started Oct. 27 and lasted six days, allowing for the evacuation of hundreds of people from Oleshky. The town in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region was home to some 2,000 remaining residents on the brink of starvation. Ukrainian serviceman Dmytro welcomes back his partner, Larysa, as evacuees from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, in southern Ukraine, arrive in Chernihiv on Oct. 31. Diego Fedele / GettyBoth sides held fire throughout the truce, making it the largest de-escalation effort since Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022. “This achievement marks an unprecedented diplomatic initiative by an American First Lady,” the White House said Tuesday of the ceasefire. Pope Leo XIV and some officials in Europe also lobbied heavily for the ceasefire in Oleshky. On Wednesday, Ukraine bestowed a state award on Melania Trump for “significant personal contribution to humanitarian support for Ukraine.” The Order of Princess Olga, 1st class is an honor for women who have made an outstanding contribution to the country.Ukraine has been reeling from the worst collapse in relations with Washington since the start of the war. Trump signed a deal to buy Russian diesel and waived new sanctions on Moscow last month, while Kyiv complained of gaps in U.S. intelligence sharing and the slowdown of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink service, crucial for Ukraine’s military and air defense. Ukraine has since said that both intelligence sharing and Starlink service have been restored, and that it was looking forward to resuming trilateral talks with the U.S. and Russia next week. Ukrainian soldiers set up a Starlink satellite communication terminal at a combat position in the Donetsk region in October.Dmytro Smolienko / NurPhoto via Getty“This will be a team-level format, and we count on the work in this format and our other diplomatic steps opening the way to a trilateral format at the leaders’ level,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday. “It is precisely such a format — at the leaders’ level — that can resolve the key issues in order to achieve a lasting peace and guaranteed security.”The meeting comes after Democrats captured full control of Congress in a striking repudiation of Trump’s agenda.Kremlin said it “sincerely hoped” that Trump would continue his “peace-building efforts” after the midterm elections. Ukraine offered no official response to the dramatic results, but some in the country expressed cautious optimism the Democratic surge would ease pressure from Washington. The negotiations to settle the war, led by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, have stalled over the key question of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas industrial region, which Putin wants to seize in its entirety. Ukraine still controls key stronghold cities in the Donbas and has refused to give up this land, arguing Putin may be eyeing not just a public relations success but a powerful launchpad for future invasion attempts.