Exclusive: Putin 'wanted very much' for Melania Trump to broker Oleshky ceasefire, first lady adviser says

Russian President Vladimir Putin "wanted very much" for U.S. First Lady Melania Trump to mediate the ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, Marc Beckman, her exclusive senior adviser, told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 28.

"President Putin wanted very much for her to participate and also wrote a formal letter explaining that she…  would be recognized as the exclusive intermediary from Russia," Beckman said.

Beckman said the Russian military proposed moving the ceasefire forward by two days and expanding its geographic scope beyond Oleshky into other parts of Kherson Oblast to facilitate humanitarian aid deliveries and evacuation preparations. Ukraine agreed to the proposal.

He described the changes as a sign of good faith, saying both sides had cooperated in implementing the agreement so far. "Their actions will speak for themselves ultimately, but what we've seen so far is tremendous cooperation from both sides," he said, adding that both parties had upheld the ceasefire's terms to date.

But concerns have been raised about Russia's true motives in agreeing to the ceasefire, as well as its agreement to allowing Trump to mediate it.

"They know exactly what they are doing," John Foreman, CBE, a former UK defense attache in both Kyiv and Moscow, told the Kyiv Independent.

"Allowing Melania to take the credit bolsters their credentials to the MAGA base as peacemakers before the midterms," he added.

Oleshky, which had a pre-war population of around 24,000, has been under Russian occupation since the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Located across the Dnipro River from Kherson, the city has been effectively blockaded by Russian forces, which have prevented humanitarian aid from reaching residents.

The ceasefire — announced by the White House on Oct. 23 as being mediated by Trump and soon confirmed by Ukraine and Russia — is in its second day as of Oct. 28, and is expected to last into early November, as aid is brought in, key roads are demined, and residents are evacuated.

The Trump-mediated ceasefire comes after international attention to the plight of civilians trapped under Russian occupation.

Earlier this month Pope Leo called Putin and requested a ceasefire. Putin responded by blaming Ukraine for the situation.

Beckman said that as well as the Vatican, "both sides were unable to bring in the United Nations, and… the Red Cross" as mediators.

Ukraine has also warned that Russia could exploit the evacuation for propaganda purposes.

Russia will likely "do everything it can to clear the roads in such a way that these people head toward Russia and remain there," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 25. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has warned that Russia is preparing to stage "dozens" of videos.

"Key Russian media figures are already starting to spread the narrative that Russia is 'rescuing' the residents that it has been terrorizing," Peter Pomerantsev, executive editor of The Reckoning Project, wrote in an op-ed for the Kyiv Independent.

On the Ukrainian side, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, is expected to arrive in Oleshky within the next 36 hours and lead the effort on the ground, Beckman said.

Beckman said Russian and Ukrainian representatives met in person in Belarus to sign the ceasefire agreement.

Representatives from both Russia and Ukraine had independently asked him to keep certain details of the ceasefire agreement confidential, citing the sensitivity of the information. He declined to disclose those details, saying both sides had emphasized the need for discretion.