Alaska meeting: Donald Trump hand-delivers first lady's letter to Vladimir Putin — here’s what it said

US First Lady Melania Trump wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin expressing concerns over the abduction of children in Ukraine, White House officials revealed on Friday. US President Trump personally delivered the letter, authored by his Slovenian-born wife, to President Putin during their high-stakes summit at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday. Although the contents of the letter remain private, sources familiar with the matter stated that it pertained to the abduction of children resulting from the war in Ukraine, New York Post reported. The battle-torn nation accused Russia of abducting tens of thousands of Ukrainian children and relocating them to Russia or territories under Russian control without the consent of their families. Russia has claimed it undertook these actions to protect children from warzone conditions. The letter marks the first lady’s second engagement in foreign relations with the Eastern European world power. Melania played a role in convincing her husband to increase military aid to Ukraine and adopt a tougher stance on Russia in dealings related to the protracted war. The president stated that his wife was among those who pointed out that the Russian dictator fails to keep the promises made during their phone conversations about a peace deal. “I go home, I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really? Another city was just hit,’” Trump told reporters last month. Melania’s native country has maintained frosty relations with Russia since its invasion began in February 2022.