U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Sunday that first lady Melania Trump “drove that deal personally” in securing a localized ceasefire in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky, telling Fox News’ The Sunday Briefing that humanitarian aid was going in and people were coming out of one of the most contested stretches of the front.
“But I have to give just my hats off to the first lady, who not only drove a ceasefire in Oleshky, which is in one of the most contentious and hard-fought areas, but those humanitarian aid is going in, people are coming out,” Waltz said on the Nov. 1 program hosted by Jacqui Heinrich and Peter Doocy, in a Fox News full-episode video of The Sunday Briefing. “It was a very small team around the first lady. She drove that deal personally with two sides that have, as you’ve seen, really hate each other and will barely talk and backed out of the deal, I’m told, time and again. She got it done. It’s getting implemented right now.”
Sunday morning, the White House Rapid Response account posted the same remarks, summarizing: “My hat’s off to FLOTUS, who not only drove a ceasefire in Oleshky — which is in one of the most contentious and hard-fought areas — but humanitarian aid is going in, people are coming out… She drove that deal personally.” Waltz then amplified the praise in his own words. “It was because of FLOTUS’s persistence that this ceasefire happened,” he wrote on X, quoting that Rapid Response post.
The White House announced the arrangement on Oct. 23. In an official White House statement, the administration said Melania Trump had secured a ceasefire “localized to the city of Oleshky,” that Russia and Ukraine agreed to temporarily stop military action there “to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and to prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe passageway,” and that “the localized ceasefire will begin on October 29, 2026.” The statement said she acted “in her formal role as Exclusive Intermediary” and that the city’s plight first came to her attention during a private discussion at her Fostering the Future Together event in New York during the 81st United Nations General Assembly. It estimated that about 1,700 to 2,000 residents remained, primarily older people who have been unable to leave, along with approximately 50 children.
Ukrainian officials described a slightly different timetable. Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said a related ceasefire took effect in the early morning of Oct. 27, Kyiv time, and was set to remain in effect through late evening on Nov. 1, according to his statements carried by Ukrinform from his Telegram. On Oct. 29 he said designated routes had been cleared of mines and a humanitarian convoy was ready to depart, with residents able to leave into the early afternoon and aid distribution planned afterward, Ukrinform reported. On Oct. 30, as aid deliveries began, Lubinets said 25 buses with 750 seats plus ambulances had been prepared for people who wished to leave, according to a further Ukrinform account of his Telegram post.
Russia’s human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, said Friday that the mission was complete. “We have completed the humanitarian mission in Oleshky. The aid has been delivered and residents have been given safe passage to leave voluntarily for the destination of their choice: either Russia or Ukraine,” Lantratova wrote on X. “We worked with Dmitry Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. I thank Melania Trump for her assistance and coordination efforts.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the rescue operation Saturday. “A humanitarian operation to rescue people in Oleshky, in the Kherson region, has taken place. A ceasefire was established in the Kherson sector, during which roads to Oleshky were cleared of mines and humanitarian aid was delivered,” he wrote on X. “We hope humanitarian access to Oleshky will remain open. Also, people who needed evacuation have been taken out of the city and the surrounding community.” He thanked “the American side and U.S. First Lady Melania Trump for their mediation” and said further steps toward de-escalation and “real progress toward peace are also needed.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking Oct. 23 after the White House announcement, said of the evacuation from Alyoshki, the Russian name for Oleshky, that “naturally, it will take at least several days,” according to TASS reporting of his remarks. The same day, Peskov said Moscow welcomed Melania Trump’s efforts and that “Mrs Trump is acting in a coordinating capacity,” linking the work to agreements between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, according to a Kremlin readout republished by International Affairs. After the main phase began, Peskov told Russia’s Vesti service that the temporary ceasefire was “a separately taken situation, which for now is difficult to project onto the entire settlement process,” Interfax reported on Oct. 30, when asked whether Oleshky meant Moscow and Kyiv could agree on other issues.
Pope Leo XIV had separately called for an Oleshky ceasefire in a phone call with Putin on Oct. 16, according to a Holy See press office statement. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that day that “It was the Holy Father who took the initiative to plead the case of this besieged city,” Vatican News reported.
Waltz cast Melania Trump as the person who personally drove a deal between parties that “really hate each other,” and his X post credited her “persistence.” The White House said she secured the localized ceasefire as Exclusive Intermediary and set an Oct. 29 start. Lubinets said the related ceasefire began Oct. 27 and ran through Nov. 1. Lantratova said Friday the mission was complete; Zelenskyy said Saturday that civilians who needed evacuation had been taken out. Peskov described Melania Trump’s role as coordinating and called the local silence hard to extend to a broader settlement. The Vatican said Pope Leo XIV raised Oleshky with Putin a week before the White House announcement.