- Mark Carney and Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought to rally global support for the return of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
- Russia is facing accusations of starting this practice when the war began in 2014 and ramping up the abductions after its full-scale invasion in 2022.
- Zelenskiy announced a tracing mechanism to collect data about the displaced children and urged foreign leaders to increase pressure on Russian politicians involved in child abductions.
Mark Carney and Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought to rally global support for the return of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, an issue that may resonate with the US administration even as it pulls back on financial and military aid for Ukraine.
The leaders of Canada and Ukraine co-hosted an event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly that focused on the nearly 20,000 children forcibly removed by Russia. The matter has previously caught the attention of First Lady Melania Trump, who wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in August urging him to end the war in order to protect affected children.
“Putin has stolen Ukrainian children,” Carney said at the event on Tuesday. “To lose their child is every parents’ nightmare. For the people of Ukraine, it is a horrifying reality.”
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Russia is facing accusations of starting this practice when the war began in 2014 and ramping up the abductions after its full-scale invasion in 2022. Some children were forcibly separated from their parents, while others were taken after their caregivers were killed or captured. Still others were seized from state institutions. They have been relocated to Russia or occupied parts of Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of war crimes. Some children have reported they were subjected to Russian propaganda and maltreatment while in the country.
Russia has sought to erase the children’s Ukrainian identity by restricting their access to the Ukrainian language and history, imposing Russian citizenship and limiting access to alternative sources of information, the Canadian government said in a background document.
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Canada and Ukraine have co-chaired the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children since 2024, and say some 1,600 kids have been brought back to their home nation. Canada believes this issue of “fundamental human rights” must be at the forefront of the international agenda, and it appreciates the US First Lady’s “leadership” and Donald Trump’s “engagement” on the matter, a government official told reporters in a background briefing.
In his remarks, Carney welcomed Melania Trump’s “powerful appeal” to Putin and the US president’s call for secondary sanctions on Russia’s trading partners.
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Carney’s wife, Diana Fox Carney, and Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska also gave speeches at the event, along with several European ministers and heads of state.