OMM Newsroom
The Kremlin said Friday it viewed positively a White House event hosted a day earlier by US first lady Melania Trump, which brought Russian and Ukrainian representatives together to discuss a local ceasefire in the city of Oleshky, according to Anadolu Agency.
“We certainly view the meeting in a positive light,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.
Peskov said Melania Trump and her team had made “significant” efforts to implement humanitarian measures under the ceasefire in the Russian-controlled city in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, coordinating with the human rights commissioners of Moscow and Kyiv.
He highlighted the work of Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova and said Melania Trump had acknowledged her contribution.
Asked whether political and humanitarian contacts between the United States and Russia complemented each other, Peskov said they worked together “perfectly” and called the cooperation a “very good practice.”
At Thursday’s White House event, Melania Trump spoke about the six-day ceasefire in Oleshky, which expired at 2100 GMT on Sunday. Russian and Ukrainian representatives also made remarks. She called for renewed efforts to secure lasting peace between Moscow and Kyiv, citing the ceasefire as an example of what cooperation could achieve.
US President Donald Trump later confirmed to reporters in the Oval Office that he had met Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who attended the first lady’s event, but said he had not met the Ukrainian representatives. Asked what they discussed, Trump said he could not disclose details, but predicted “a big agreement” involving more than Ukraine and possibly all of Europe, adding that “everyone’s going to be thrilled.”
Peskov said Friday that Dmitriev had not yet returned from the United States and that Moscow had no information about the details of his meeting with Trump.
Peskov says Europe has made no security proposals
Peskov declined to comment on the agreement Trump had mentioned, but said Russia had received no proposals from Europe concerning security guarantees.
He said discussions with European countries would become “necessary” to address security between Russia and Ukraine and the future of Europe’s wider security architecture.
“As we can see, they [Europe] haven’t even been able to decide yet who is authorized to speak on their behalf. Consequently, we observe a persistent indecisiveness and lack of readiness on their side,” Peskov said.
