Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has bestowed the country's highest award for women on US First Lady Melania Trump, the presidential office announced.
A presidential decree said Melania Trump received the Order of Princess Olga, 1st Class, in recognition of her "significant personal contribution to humanitarian support for Ukraine."
The honor follows the conclusion of a ceasefire in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, which made possible the evacuation of several hundred people from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations are scheduled to gather at the White House on Thursday at Melania Trump's invitation. The groups include ombudsmen who took part in the evacuation mission along with senior officials from both sides.
The White House said the First Lady had "independently initiated engagement between the two warring nations and successfully secured a ceasefire," describing it as "an unprecedented diplomatic initiative by an American First Lady." Both Moscow and Kyiv repeatedly thanked her for brokering the truce, although neither side detailed the nature or extent of her role.
Thursday's delegations are set to include Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova, who traveled together into Oleshky last week in an unusual display of cooperation. Ukrainian MP Davyd Arakhamia, who leads Zelensky's party in parliament, and Russian businessman Kirill Dmitriev, a figure close to the Kremlin, will also attend. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Russia's delegation would consist of Lantratova and Dmitriev.
Ukrainian media, citing diplomatic sources, reported that Arakhamia handled informal contacts between the White House and Moscow during the ceasefire, and he has confirmed his participation in the talks. Although both he and Dmitriev are seasoned figures in high-level negotiations, such senior meetings are rarely convened through an initiative led by a US First Lady.
Details of the White House event have not been released. "There are important meetings ahead," Lubinets wrote on social media as he announced his departure for the United States. The White House website said Melania Trump will deliver remarks on the Oleshky ceasefire at 11:00 (16:00 GMT) on Thursday.
Zelensky's decree also pointed to the First Lady's broader humanitarian efforts, including work on behalf of Ukrainian children affected by the war. In 2025 she said an "open channel of communication" had been established with Russian President Vladimir Putin, enabling children displaced by the conflict to be reunited with their families. The UN said earlier this year that the deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia amounts to a crime against humanity and a war crime. Ukraine says nearly 20,000 children have been illegally sent to Russia and Belarus since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Separately, Russian, Ukrainian and American representatives are due to meet in Abu Dhabi next week, their first trilateral session since February. US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday that the talks will center on postwar security agreements and de-escalation.
