Ukraine seeking to keep international focus on return of children – Betsa

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.

The Brussels meeting also aimed to maintain momentum following the adoption of a United Nations General Assembly resolution on December 3, 2025, regarding the return of Ukrainian children, Betsa noted.

Expressing gratitude to the co-chairs of the Coalition – the European Commission and Canada – she said it was possible to hold an “unprecedented ministerial-level meeting,” which brought together 63 delegations from states and international organizations, with more than 20 foreign ministers in attendance.

She emphasized that Ukraine’s goal is to mobilize the international community to return children, develop concrete steps, tools, and mechanisms in this regard, ensure the identification and verification of abducted Ukrainian children, and provide proper reintegration and rehabilitation for those who are returned.

As previously reported, on May 11, a summit of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children was held in Brussels, attended by representatives of dozens of countries and international organizations, including EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand as a representative of a founding country of the Coalition.