Did Melania Trump or Pope Leo XIV broker Russia-Ukraine ceasefire? What we know

A rumor spread in late October that U.S. first lady Melania Trump took credit for brokering a humanitarian ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in Oleshky, Ukraine, even though Pope Leo XIV spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy days before she announced it. 

Life in Russia-occupied Oleshky, in southern Ukraine, has reportedly grown increasingly difficult since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Meanwhile, Leo has been critical of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Social media posts, including on Reddit and Facebook, multiplied claiming the first lady took credit for Leo’s intervention to secure humanitarian access to the Ukrainian town. On X, one post said “the Trump White House is trying to give MELANIA TRUMP the credit, completely ignoring the Pope’s efforts!” (archived):

Meanwhile, Snopes readers emailed us, asking us to fact-check the claim that Trump hoarded all the credit for the ceasefire. 

It is true that Leo talked to both Putin and Zelenskyy days before Trump announced the ceasefire. He urged them to agree to a humanitarian ceasefire in Oleshky, Ukraine, according to the Vatican. Several Oct. 16 reports cited the Kremlin as saying Putin agreed to pause hostilities to allow for food and other supplies to reach the war-torn town.

When announcing the ceasefire Oct. 23, Trump said in a statement that it would not have been possible without her “intervention.” The statement did not mention Leo’s involvement in the ceasefire negotiations. On Oct. 24, Marc Beckman, her senior adviser, said on “Fox & Friends Weekend” that Trump “singlehandedly” secured the ceasefire. 

Neither her adviser nor the White House specified when the first lady’s talks with Russia and Ukraine took place, leaving it unclear whether she spoke with them before or after Leo had.

Also on Oct. 24, conservative tabloid The New York Post quoted the first lady as saying “it is great to have Pope’s support.” Snopes could not independently verify Trump’s acknowledgement of the pope’s role in securing the ceasefire or whether she was aware that he had been working to secure it prior to her announcement. 

The exact timeline of Trump’s and Leo’s interventions for a ceasefire, and their roles in Putin’s and Zelenskyy’s decision-making, remain unknown as of this writing. For these reasons, we’ve left this claim unrated.

We reached out to the first lady’s office, the Vatican, Putin’s office and Zelenskyy’s office seeking clarification. We will update this report should any of them respond. 

Timeline of negotiations for a ceasefire

On Oct. 16, Reuters reported that Leo had reached Putin by telephone. At that moment, the pontiff was in the hospital in Rome, recovering from the surgical removal of a cancerous tumor in his lung. In that conversation, the Russian president “agreed to ‌cooperate,” the report said, citing the Kremlin. 

The New York Times echoed this assertion the same day, citing the Kremlin as saying Putin “supported the Vatican’s intention to facilitate the creation of conditions to ensure the safety of the city’s population and organize vital supplies. Cooperation in this regard was agreed upon.” 

That day, the Kremlin did not mention Melania Trump’s involvement in its statements to the Times or Reuters.

Also on Oct. 16, Vatican News, the official news site of the Holy See, confirmed reports that the pope had talked with Putin about Oleshky and urged a ceasefire. On Oct. 23, Vatican News added that the pope had also spoken to Zelenskyy about the situation in Oleshky and the need for a humanitarian truce on Oct. 19. 

That day, the White House announced that the first lady had secured “a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, localized in Oleshky.” The announcement cited Trump as saying that, without her, the ceasefire would not have been possible, and it did not mention the pope.

“It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible,” the first lady said.

The White House announcement further claimed Trump “initiated discussions with both nations and aligned the parties on the agreement’s objectives.” As of this writing, it was unclear when those discussions began. According to The Associated Press, the Kremlin acknowledged the first lady’s intervention after her Oct. 23 announcement.

The next day, her senior adviser Marc Beckman said during an interview on “Fox & Friends Weekend” that she had “singlehandedly” secured the ceasefire.

“Yesterday, she brokered — singlehandedly brokered — a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine within the area of Oleshky,” Beckman said at the 1:43 mark in the video. 

Trump’s and Beckman’s statements suggested the first lady had been alone in securing the ceasefire. 

Also on Oct. 24, the New York Post reported the first lady as acknowledging Leo’s “support” in the ceasefire agreement. The tabloid did not say whether she had acknowledged the fact that the pontiff spoke to Putin and Zelenskyy in the week before her announcement.

For further reading, Snopes has investigated many rumors about Leo, including the claim that President Donald Trump canceled an $11 million grant to a Catholic charity to “punish” the pontiff.