White House Sets Oct. 29 Start for Oleshky Truce

The White House announced on Friday that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a temporary ceasefire in Oleshky, a city in southern Ukraine occupied by Russian forces. The administration stated that the truce is scheduled to begin on October 29. This date provides a six-day window for the agreement to be implemented before military actions halt.

In a written statement, the White House credited First Lady Melania Trump with securing the arrangement. The statement noted that Trump and her representative worked directly with leadership in both Moscow and Kyiv to establish the terms of the localized truce. The primary goal of the agreement is to halt military activity to allow humanitarian aid to reach the population and to facilitate civilian evacuation via a designated safe passage.

"The situation in Oleshky is dire," Trump said in the statement. She described the city as being on the brink of disaster and noted that the remaining population is largely elderly. According to the White House, these residents urgently require medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water.

The White House provided specific figures regarding the city's current state. It reported that between 1,700 and 2,000 residents currently live in Oleshky, including approximately 50 children. This number represents a sharp decline from the pre-war population of roughly 24,000. The statement also indicated that about 90 percent of the city was flooded following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.

Under the agreed terms, non-military teams from both nations will visit residents in their homes. These teams will assist in arranging transport for anyone who wishes to leave the city, offering options to move to either Russia or Ukraine. David Arakhamia, Ukraine's top negotiator, confirmed the details on Telegram. He stated that the humanitarian operation would commence once the ceasefire takes hold and that the accord resulted from a long process involving both Trump and Pope Leo.

The Kremlin responded by saying that the evacuation process would take at least several days. Russian officials praised Trump and said work was underway to improve conditions in the city. This followed a telephone conversation between President Vladimir Putin and Pope Leo last week, in which Putin expressed readiness to cooperate on the issue. Valery Gerasimov, the Russian Chief of the General Staff, specified that Russian forces would stop firing from 4 a.m. local time on October 27 to support the operation.

Separate diplomatic developments accompanied the announcement. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Hudson Institute that negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States agreed to hold technical-level talks in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. Zelenskyy said he spoke with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff after their meeting with Putin earlier in the week. He emphasized that any future peace deal would require strong security guarantees and 10 years of funding for Ukraine's army.

These announcements follow two weeks of criticism from European allies and U.S. lawmakers regarding American involvement in the conflict. President Donald Trump recently struck a deal with Putin to import diesel and announced a ceasefire on energy attacks, though Russia continued its fire. On October 14, Zelenskyy reported that SpaceX had restricted Starlink service, which Ukrainian officials say hampers strikes and drone defense.

Fighting continued on Friday despite the announced truce. Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport briefly suspended operations due to a Ukrainian drone threat. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses downed 21 drones headed for the capital over a two-hour period. The two sides also exchanged 270 prisoners each. Ukraine's acting prosecutor general, Anton Kovalskyi, stated that more than 19,000 Ukrainian civilians, including 762 children, have been killed since the full-scale invasion began.