For Ukraine, it is important to make full use of various international platforms to keep the issue of Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children and accountability for those responsible high on the global agenda.
This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by Mariana Betsa, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, following the summit of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.
“On the part of Ukraine, the European Union, and Canada, tremendous diplomatic work was carried out to ensure that this Coalition, established in 2024, would meet in Brussels,” Betsa said, recalling that the previous meeting took place at leaders’ level on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York at the end of September.
“We understood that we needed to maintain momentum in order to keep the issue of abducted Ukrainian children as visible as possible on the global agenda. These are gross violations of international law, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. However, we also understood that, with global attention currently focused on various developments in the Middle East and the situation around Iran, we needed to hold a meeting in Brussels to further highlight the issue of returning Ukrainian children from Russia,” the deputy minister said, adding that the initiative for the summit came from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
