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Opening remarks by HR/VP Kaja Kallas for the High-Level Meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children

11.05.2026 Strategic Communications

Dear Minister Sybiiha, dear Andrii,

Dear Minister Anand, dear Anita,

Commissioner Kos, dear Marta,

Dear Excellencies,

Yesterday was Mothers’ Day, and I had a discussion with my son, who’s 14 years old. I was telling him that there are 20,000 children who have been taken from their homes and deported. He said to me, in my school there are 1000 children, so that means 20 schools full of children.

Having one’s child forcibly taken is the worst nightmare of every parent. Yet, it is the lived reality for thousands of Ukrainian families.

Russia claims to be carrying out ‘humanitarian evacuations’. But no Russian system exists to repatriate Ukrainian kids.

Once in Russian hands, in camps, military training facilities, in occupied Ukraine or elsewhere in Russia, Ukrainian children are instead subjected to indoctrination, their names are changed, their identities wiped.

It is Russian government policy – approved by Putin himself – to erase the identity of Ukraine by using Ukrainian children.

Let’s not forget that in 2023, the International Criminal Court issued two arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for the war crimes of unlawful deportation of children and the unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

Our task, not only as politicians but as human beings, is to prevent this from happening, to ensure every single Ukrainian child is returned home and has the support they need to recover.

You, members of the Coalition, can do this in multiple ways. For example, you can:

  • Support President Zelenskyy’s ‘Bring Kids Back’ initiative, which Andrii can say more about;
  • Endorse Ukraine’s tracing mechanism, which is helping to locate children;
  • Work to implement the UN resolution agreed in December, which the European Union co-sponsored;

The aim is to increase the role of the UN in this process and make use of all the relevant bodies to locate and return Ukrainian children;

  • You can also fund initiatives that help with the reintegration and rehabilitation of retuning children in Ukraine;
  • And also finance the work of Ukraine’s judicial authorities in building criminal cases, as well as civil society organisations that document deportations.

The European Union is working on all of these areas.

Since October last year alone, we have given:

  • 5 million euro for psychosocial support centres for war-affected children and families
  • 2 million euro for the care of returned children;
  • 75 million euro for accountability efforts for crimes related to deportations;
  • And I will let Commissioner Kos add to this list in just a minute.

The return of Ukrainian children must also be included in any eventual peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Dear Excellencies,

Russia can only run its horrific system of child deportation, indoctrination and illegal adoption thanks to the network of people and companies.

The European Union has already sanctioned 103 such individuals and entities.

Today I am also happy to say we extended the sanctions with 23 more names.

These include:

  • Russian officials;
  • people working as camp directors at facilities where Ukrainian children are being held;
  • organisations involved in the deportation, forced transfer, indoctrination and militarised education of Ukrainian children;
  • and organisations hosting or training children from Russian-occupied territories.

For maximum effect, sanctions should be as widely applied as possible. So I call on you all to step up work on additional sanctions. We know who is responsible for these atrocities, we have the evidence, we have to act on it.

Behind the scenes, diplomatic efforts continue across the world to raise awareness of Russia’s actions. It is important that this Coalition keeps on growing in size and prominence.

I want to welcome our newest members, Cyprus and Switzerland. We should also use every opportunity to encourage more countries to join.

Dear Andrii,

The people of Ukraine have the weight of the world behind you. And together, we will work to bring your children home.