On April 24, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha met with EU Special Representative for Human Rights Olof Skoog.

The parties emphasized the need to hold Russia accountable for gross human rights violations in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, and other TOT of Ukraine.

The role of recording the crimes of illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to the territory of Russia and collecting the necessary evidence base, including with the involvement of international partners was noted. 

The First Deputy Minister emphasized the need to include the persons involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia in the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.

They separately discussed the importance of implementing the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy`s Peace Formula, including the part related to the release of prisoners and deported individuals.

The parties agreed on strengthening the further cooperation in the matter of the return of Ukrainian children and civilian prisoners illegally deported by Russia, which will become one of the key areas of work for the EU Special Representative’s Office.