A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators has introduced a resolution demanding that Russia return all abducted Ukrainian children before any peace agreement is signed to end the war.
The initiative, led by Republican Chuck Grassley and Democrat Amy Klobuchar, is also co-sponsored by Senators Roger Wicker, Joni Ernst, Rick Scott, Dick Durbin, and John Fetterman. The resolution condemns Russia’s forced deportation of Ukrainian children and stresses that this act exposes them to trafficking, exploitation, child labor, sexual violence, hunger, injury, and death.
“Russia has kidnapped nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children to erase their cultural identity and heritage,” reads a joint statement published on Senator Grassley’s website.
Ukrainian authorities have received at least 19,546 confirmed reports of unlawful deportations and forced transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia, Belarus or Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. The abductions aim to erase the children’s Ukrainian names, language and identity. As of April 16, Ukraine and its partners have only managed to return 1,274 abducted children.
The document calls for the unconditional return of these children, underlining that any peace agreement must be preceded by their repatriation.
Senator Grassley emphasized that Putin’s brutal, unprovoked war has triggered the largest conflict in Europe since World War II:
“He has stolen thousands of children to brainwash and Russify them. The United States must demand their return before agreeing to any deal to end the war.”
Senator Klobuchar added:
“The mass kidnapping of Ukrainian children by Russia is an atrocity. We cannot accept a world where children are abducted during wartime and used as a form of hostage-taking for negotiations. These children must be returned unconditionally before any peace deal is finalized.”
Find text of the resolution HERE.
