Overview

• The White House said the channel was opened after Vladimir Putin replied to a letter Melania Trump conveyed during an August meeting in Alaska.
• Her office said her team worked directly with Putin’s staff to coordinate safe handoffs between Russia and Ukraine.
• Of the eight reunified children, three were moved to Russia without their parents due to frontline fighting and five were separated from relatives across borders.
• Melania Trump said Russia agreed to process reunifications for those taken as minors who have since turned 18, with additional cases in progress.
• Kyiv estimates roughly 20,000 Ukrainian minors were transferred to Russia, and the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova related to those transfers.