Donald Trump hand-delivered a letter to Vladimir Putin from his wife, Melania Trump, at the summit in Alaska, which raised the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia, White House officials told Reuters news agency.
The first lady, who was born in Slovenia, was not on the trip, but the officials said her letter mentioned the abductions of children during the war.
The government in Kyiv estimates that at least 19,500 Ukrainian children have been deported, external and forcibly displaced from their homes to Russia and Russian-occupied territories since the full scale invasion began in February 2022.
The issue is a hugely sensitive one here in Ukraine, where many believe that no peace deal should be made without an agreement for the return of all those abducted.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova for the alleged unlawful deportation of children.