White House and Vatican Dispute Credit for Oleshky Humanitarian Ceasefire

The United States and Vatican each claimed responsibility for achieving the ceasefire that took effect in Oleshky in Ukraine's Kherson region on Tuesday, as the number of civilians enabled by the ceasefire to depart or receive aid is estimated at between 1,700 and 2,000 people.

First Lady Melania Trump announced the ceasefire on Friday in a statement from the White House, saying the city's conditions were "critically dangerous" and on "the brink of catastrophe," adding: "Without my intervention, it would have been completely impossible to deliver humanitarian aid to the city and evacuate the elderly." The White House reported that Melania and her representatives worked closely with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to determine the terms of the ceasefire.

In contrast, the Vatican presented a different account, indicating that the Pope contributed to reaching the ceasefire through telephone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia's Defense Ministry announced via Telegram a halt to shelling toward the Ukrainian city of Kherson beginning at 4:00 a.m. Moscow time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday, in preparation for the humanitarian operation in Oleshky. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's parliamentary commissioner for human rights and head of the Ukrainian negotiating team, confirmed that "the Ukrainian side is fulfilling its commitments."

The Kremlin stated on Monday that this ceasefire may establish a precedent for similar local ceasefires in other areas. It should be noted that both sides emphasized that the ceasefire — scheduled to end on Sunday — is not a comprehensive halt to hostilities, and that all efforts to reach a comprehensive peace have failed thus far.