Washington DC - First Lady Melania Trump is facing accusations of trying to take credit for a localized ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict that was actually orchestrated by Pope Leo XI.
On Friday, the White House and the Office of the First Lady shared a press release claiming Melania personally "secured a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, localized to the city of Oleshky," which was "on the brink of disaster."
Melania claimed that "It was abundantly clear that without my intervention" it would have been "impossible" to broker the deal.
But the Vatican recently told Reuters that Pope Leo XIV had called Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 16 – exactly a week before Melania's announcement – and "asked him to arrange a ceasefire to let aid and food into the town."
While the Kremlin praised Melania for having a role in the agreement, they also told the outlet earlier this week that work was under way to ease the humanitarian situation after Putin told the pope he was ready to cooperate on the matter.
Nonetheless, the Trump administration is insisting Melania orchestrated everything.
In an interview with Fox News on Saturday, Melania's senior advisor Marc Beckman - who has said the first lady has a "direct line" to Putin – claimed she "single-handedly" brokered the deal, which "caught the attention" of the Pope, who subsequently "stepped in and supported her efforts."
President Donald Trump also told reporters that she was behind the deal and entertained the idea of deploying her for future peace talks, describing it as "not the worst idea I've ever heard."