• White House says Melania Trump brokered truce set to begin on Oct 29
• Deal opens safe passage for civilians, allows aid deliveries
• Kremlin confirms agreement as both militaries work out details
• Russian diesel tanker heads to New York after Trump eases sanctions
WASHINGTON: A localised ceasefire brokered by US first lady Melania Trump will pause fighting in a Russian-occupied Ukrainian city next week, unfolding as a sanctions-waiver deal by President Donald Trump sends a tanker filled with Russian diesel steaming toward New York.
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a temporary ceasefire in the Russian-controlled southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky beginning on Oct 29 to allow humanitarian aid and civilian evacuations, the White House said Friday, crediting first lady Melania Trump with brokering the deal.
The agreement calls for both sides to suspend military action in the city and establish a designated safe passageway for civilians. Oleshky, across the Dnipro River from Ukrainian-held Kherson, has been occupied by Russian forces since February 2022 and faces a deepening food crisis.
Ukraine’s top negotiator, David Arakhamia, said on Telegram that the humanitarian operation would begin once a ceasefire was in place. He said the agreement followed a lengthy process involving Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Moscow’s agreement but said Russian and Ukrainian militaries were still determining the dates for implementing it.
He said evacuations would take at least several days and all residents who wanted to leave could do so. The Kremlin praised the first lady’s role and said Presidents Trump and Vladimir Putin had discussed the arrangement.
“The situation in Oleshky is dire,” Melania Trump said, describing a city whose residents, mostly elderly, urgently need medical care, medicine, food and clean water.
The White House said between 1,700 and 2,000 people remain, including about 50 children, down from roughly 24,000 before the war. It said about 90pc of the city was flooded following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.
Under the arrangement, civilian teams from both countries will visit residents in their homes and coordinate transportation for those who choose to evacuate to Russia or Ukraine.
Newsmax said its cameras would have exclusive access to document the operation. Melania Trump has also sought the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the war.
The localised truce comes as President Donald Trump presses Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reach a broader agreement with Putin.
Zelensky has said any peace agreement would require strong security guarantees and funding to maintain Ukraine’s army for 10 years.
Meanwhile, maritime trackers and the Kremlin confirmed on Friday that the tanker Agioi Fanendes, carrying nearly 300,000 barrels of Russian diesel, is bound for New York after the US eased sanctions. The agreement, struck between Trump and Putin this month, shocked Ukraine and European allies.
Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2026
