Melania Trump sends letter to Putin about abducted children

U.S. President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, raised the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia in a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, two White House officials said on Friday.

President Trump hand-delivered the letter to Putin during their summit talks in Alaska, the officials told Reuters. Slovenian-born Melania Trump was not on the trip to Alaska.

The existence of the letter was not previously reported.

Russia's seizure of Ukrainian children has been a deeply sensitive one for Ukraine.

Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the U.N. treaty definition of genocide.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy conveyed his gratitude to the first lady on his call with Trump on Saturday, Ukraine's foreign minister said.

"This is a true act of humanism," Andrii Sybiha added on X.

Previously Moscow has said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone.

Reuters