Russia and Ukraine held face-to-face negotiations regarding children for the first time through the mediation of Qatar. This was announced by the Commissioner for Children’s Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, Maria Lvova-Belova, RIA Novosti reports on Wednesday, April 24.
Negotiations took place in Doha. “We have recorded a list of 29 children who should be reunited with relatives in Ukraine, and 19 children who should be reunited with families in Russia,” the ombudsman said during her visit to the country. According to her, the Qatari side has recorded the current lists, but if new data appears, the Russian side will respond to them.
Lvova-Belova also pointed out that the information disseminated by Western media about the presence of 19.5 thousand Ukrainian children in Russia is “fake.”
In early December, Maria Lvova-Belova reported that at the Qatari embassy in Moscow, six children who had relatives in Russia were handed over to their relatives from Ukraine. On February 19, she said that Russia handed over 11 children to Ukraine. In March, ten more children were returned to Ukraine from Russia, who ended up on Russian territory amid hostilities.
In January, Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets said that 2,828 adults and 517 children had returned to Ukraine since the start of the conflict.
Tags: Russia Ukraine held facetoface negotiations children April
