Trump Meets Privately With Kremlin Envoy Dmitriev After White House Event on Oleshky

U.S. President Donald Trump met privately on Thursday at the White House in Washington with Kirill Dmitriev, an envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting followed an event hosted by first lady Melania Trump, where Dmitriev appeared alongside Ukrainian representatives to mark a ceasefire in Oleshky. Trump did not say what he discussed with Dmitriev, but predicted a deal to end the war in Ukraine could emerge soon.

"It's going to be a big agreement, and it's going to involve more than Ukraine ... I could even say it might involve all of Europe," Trump told reporters. He said he did not meet the Ukrainian representatives at the White House.

The Oleshky event

The gathering was a rare face-to-face encounter between Russian and Ukrainian officials. It marked a six-day ceasefire and humanitarian mission in the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky, which Melania Trump helped broker. The ceasefire expired on Sunday. The first lady said she was involved in every stage of planning, including reviewing aerial images and assessing roadways and hospital access.

Ukrainian lawmaker David Arakhamia and human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets also attended and urged her to continue her peace efforts. Both sides gave her gifts: Dmitriev presented a drawing of pink hearts by a girl from Oleshky, while the Ukrainians gave her a state award for returning Ukrainian children. She handed both delegations letters addressed to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Upcoming talks

A U.S. delegation is scheduled to mediate talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10 and 11. Ahead of them, White House envoy Jared Kushner said U.S. officials met in Brussels on Thursday with officials from Ukraine, NATO and European countries, calling the meeting "productive and substantive." The focus was post-war security guarantees for Kyiv and Europe more broadly.

Kushner listed five goals: permanent security consultations, reliable crisis communications, greater military transparency, reciprocal measures to reduce escalation risks and an enduring framework for European security. He said NATO would remain central to European collective defense.