Trump says he and EU Commission President discussed 'worldwide problem of missing children'

Washington, Aug 19 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has said that he and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed the issue of abducted children, a cause that is also important to his wife, First Lady Melania Trump.

"Ursula von der Leyen, the distinguished and Highly Respected President of the European Commission, and I have been discussing the massive Worldwide problem of missing children. This is, likewise, a big subject with my wife, Melania. It is a subject at the top of all lists, and the World will work together to solve it, hopefully bringing them home to their families!" Trump posted on Monday on Truth Social.

Von der Leyen responded on X, saying the human cost of the Ukraine war must end.

"And that means every single Ukrainian child abducted by Russia must be returned to their families. I thank @POTUS for his clear commitment today to ensuring these children are reunited with their loved ones."

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin, accusing him of the war crimes of unlawfully deporting children and unlawfully transferring them from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.

While the exact number of missing children over the course of the Russia-Ukraine war remains unclear, the Institute for the Study of War reported in March that Ukraine verified nearly 19,500 children have been deported by Russia.

During Monday's summit at the White House, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came with a letter from his wife for Melania Trump, and he praised the US first lady's letter last week to President Vladimir Putin about children suffering during the war.

Zelensky opened his one-on-one meeting with President Trump on Monday by thanking First Lady Melania Trump.

Despite the fact that Melania Trump did not travel with her husband for his summit with Vladimir Putin last week, the First Lady did send a personal letter to the Russian President pleading for peace on behalf of the children in Ukraine and Russia who are suffering amid the ongoing war.

Zelensky told Trump that both he and his wife, Olena Zelenska, were moved by the letter, saying, "many thanks to your wife, first lady of the United States," and presenting him with a letter to give her in return.

"It's not to you, [it's] to your wife," he cautioned, earning a laugh from the US President and gathered press.

--IANS

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