On September 8, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mariana Betsa took part in an online meeting organized by the UK Foreign Office’s Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories Stephen Doughty, with the participation of senior officials from Germany, Poland, Italy, the Holy See, the Netherlands, Denmark, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Iceland and Canada.

The leitmotif of the meeting was the recent introduction by the United Kingdom of new sanctions against Russian individuals and organizations involved in the illegal deportation, russification, and militarization of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The Deputy Minister sincerely thanked the British side for this important step.

In her speech, Mariana Betsa informed the participants about the recent massive attacks by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine and their terrible consequences. She also presented practical steps and initiatives of Ukraine to return Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia.

The Deputy Minister emphasized the importance of continuing joint work to increase international pressure on Russia to ensure the unconditional return of deported Ukrainian children and to hold all perpetrators to account.

The participants of the event discussed the work of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, coordinated efforts to counter the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation, and ensure their return to Ukraine.