‘As leaders, the responsibility to sustain our children extends beyond the comfort of a few,’ the first lady’s letter reads.
First Lady Melania Trump shared a message of peace in a letter President Donald Trump handed to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15.
The letter, first reported by Fox News, focuses on protecting children.
“As parents, it is our duty to nurture the next generation’s hope. As leaders, the responsibility to sustain our children extends beyond the comfort of a few,” the first lady’s letter reads. “Undeniably, we must strive to paint a dignity-filled world for all – so that every soul may wake to peace, and so that the future itself is perfectly guarded.”
Putin read the letter immediately upon receiving it, while the American and Russian delegations looked on, Fox News reported.
“A simple yet profound concept, Mr. Putin, as I am sure you agree, is that each generation’s descendants begin their lives with a purity – an innocence which stands above geography, government, and ideology,” the letter continues.
“Yet in today’s world, some children are forced to carry a quiet laughter, untouched by the darkness around them — a silent defiance against the forces that can potentially claim their future. Mr. Putin, you can singlehandedly restore their melodic laughter.”
The first lady’s letter goes on to tell the Russian president that protecting the innocence of children would not only serve his country, but humanity itself.
“Such a bold idea transcends all human division, and you, Mr. Putin, are fit to implement this vision with a stroke of the pen today.”
“It is time,” the letter concludes. “Sincerely, Melania Trump.”
The first lady’s letter did not specify precisely what Putin could implement with his pen stroke.
Ukraine has accused Russia of taking Ukrainian children against the will of their families and relocating them either to Russia or to Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine throughout their 3 ½-year conflict.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, for the “alleged war crimes of deportation of children from Ukrainian occupied territories into the Russian Federation.”
By Ryan Morgan
