Overview
- Ukraine's Presidential Office and the Kyiv Independent reported that Olena Zelenska met Melania Trump in New York to discuss protecting children affected by the war, sharing a photo from the encounter.
- A senior adviser to Melania Trump, Marc Beckman, said no formal bilateral meeting was scheduled and indicated only a polite greeting would occur.
- Melania Trump hosted a first-spouses reception where she launched a coalition, Fostering the Future Together, focused on children's well-being and technology safety, and she departed after brief remarks.
- Ukraine’s official Children of War database lists 19,546 children confirmed deported or forcibly displaced to Russia, occupied territories, or Belarus since 2022, with 1,605 returned.
- Reports have linked Melania Trump to a letter sent in August to Vladimir Putin regarding Ukrainian children, though versions of the letter differ on whether it explicitly referenced abductions.