Trump administration to urge Russia to return Ukrainian children as ‘confidence-building measure’

White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said that the United States is discussing the possibility of returning deported Ukrainian children as one of the key steps to build trust.

RBC-Ukraine and CBS News reported this.

One of the issues raised by US President Donald Trump is the return of Ukrainian children who were abducted as part of Russia's state program of Russification, forced removal from families, and deportation to the Russian Federation.

"President Trump spoke with both leaders about the exchange of prisoners. The Russians and Ukrainians exchanged almost 200 prisoners immediately after their conversation.

He also discussed the future of these children. This is undoubtedly one of the key steps to building trust," the adviser noted.

At the same time, Waltz said it is worth stepping back and assessing the situation.

He noted that discussions about the war's conclusion were non-existent just months ago, but now it's pertinent to consider its state in the coming years. He highlighted that once at an impasse, the conflict has progressed to the point where both parties are actively engaging in negotiations together.

Waltz also stated that the United States is actually implementing President Trump's vision of ending the war, which was part of his election campaign.

At the same time, when asked by a journalist whether the US would demand the release of these children as a step to build trust, Waltz answered in the affirmative.

"We are discussing several measures to build trust. This is one of them," he said.

For reference:
It should be noted that several media outlets, including the Washington Post (WP), wrote that the administration of the head of the White House, Donald Trump, has stopped the funded American initiative that documented Russian war crimes.

In particular, this allegedly affected the database on the mass illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. However, the other day, the US State Department denied rumors about the deletion of the database of abducted Ukrainian children.

It should be noted that since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, numerous cases of illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to the territory of the Russian Federation have been recorded.

Under the guise of "evacuation," the Russian authorities have taken children from the temporarily occupied territories, changed their citizenship, and transferred them to Russian families. Russia also finances a significant number of programs aimed at the "re-education" of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories.

As of February 12, 600,000 children live in Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories, but only 7% of them study in Ukrainian schools.

In 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and the Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their involvement in the deportation of children.

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