Melania Trump says she's working with Putin on reuniting abducted Ukrainian children

WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump said Friday that she has been working with Russian President Vladimir Putin on reuniting Ukrainian children who were believed to be kidnapped into Russia during the war

WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump said Friday that she has been working with Russian President Vladimir Putin on reuniting Ukrainian children who were believed to be kidnapped into Russia during the war.

Speaking from the White House, she referred to a letter sent to Putin in August regarding children affected by the war, and said that he wrote back "signaling a willingness to engage with me directly."

“President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication regarding the welfare of these children," the first lady said. "For the past three months, both sides have participated in several back-channel meetings and calls, all in good faith. My representative has been working directly with President Putin’s team to ensure the safe reunification of children with their families between Russia and Ukraine."

Trump said that in the last 24 hours, eight children were reunified with their families.

“Three were separated from their parents and displaced to the Russian Federation because of front-line fighting," she said. "The other five were separated from family members across borders because of the conflict, including one young girl who has now been reunited from Ukraine to Russia.”