Montreal summit ends with pledge to return Ukrainian children deported to Russia

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MONTREAL (AP) — More than 45 nations signed a pledge in Montreal on Thursday to repatriate to Ukraine the civilians, prisoners of war and children taken by Russia since it invaded the country.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said the countries agreed to coordinate efforts to gather information about Ukrainians held in Russia and to create safe pathways for their return.

“Human lives must be protected. Children, civilians and prisoners of war must be allowed to return home,” she said during a press conference at the close of a two-day summit on the human dimension of the war.

Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha said nearly 42,000 Ukrainians are missing, and that almost 20,000 children have been deported to Russia. He said 860 Ukrainian children have been returned home to date.

Joly said Thursday’s joint declaration will help co-ordinate existing efforts to locate missing Ukrainians. She said Qatar, South Africa and the Holy See have agreed to act as intermediaries to negotiate the return of prisoners of war, civilians and children. Lithuania and Qatar will act as transit countries for Ukrainians who are released.

Officials did not release a list of the more than 70 countries who sent delegations to Montreal this week, and it was unclear which countries had signed the pledge as of Thursday evening. But several major players were not present, including China, India and Brazil. Mexico and South Africa did attend the conference.

Joly said many countries felt “direct pressure from Russia” not to attend the summit. “Russia made many representations in many capitals of the world saying that they should not come to Montreal,” she said. “It shows that what we’re doing is shedding light on an issue that embarrasses Russia.”

The ICC previously issued arrest warrants for both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of the war crimes of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. Moscow has rejected the allegations.