Ukrainian Children Abducted by Russia Have Become a Prominent Issue in Peace Talks.

By Matthew Bigg

The fate of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted and deported by Russia surged onto the agenda for the latest peace talks. Both President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine raised the issue on Monday at White House meetings involving seven of Europe’s most powerful leaders.

Melania Trump, the U.S. first lady, wrote a letter to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Friday in which she implored him to protect children’s rights, without specifying young people affected by the war in Ukraine. And at the start of their White House meeting on Monday, Mr. Zelensky handed Mr. Trump a letter from his own wife, Olena Zelenska, who, he said, had asked him to give it to Ms. Trump.

Now, Mr. Trump wants to keep the matter at the forefront, European Union ambassadors were told on Tuesday during a debrief of Monday’s meetings, according to two diplomats familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal conversations.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who attended the White House meetings, on Tuesday called for the “human cost of this war” to end. “And that means every single Ukrainian child abducted by Russia must be returned to their families,” she said on social media.

Many Ukrainians have said that the forced separations are among the most hideous of Russia’s crimes since it invaded their country in February 2022. Many of the children, placed in Russian foster homes or adopted by Russian families, vanished inside Moscow’s systematic campaign to strip them of their Ukrainian identity.

In all, 19,546 children have been forcibly transported to Russia, with many still unaccounted for, according to the Children of War portal, a project supported by the Ukrainian government.

Some were orphaned in the war and then kidnapped. Some were encouraged by Russian officials to travel deeper into land that Russia occupied or into Russia itself, ostensibly to escape the fighting. Others were sent to temporary summer camps, away from their parents, and have not rejoined their families.

To date, 1,545 children have been returned to Ukraine, according to the figures, often after enormous effort and personal risk by their families and organizations that have worked to secure their release. Qatar has also facilitated the repatriation of some children.

The government in Ukraine and the country’s first lady have worked to keep the children in the public eye. Their fate has also attracted the attention of governments and jurists.

When the International Criminal Court accused Mr. Putin of war crimes in 2023 and issued a warrant for his arrest, it singled out his responsibility for the abductions and deportations of children — not for the invasion itself or the killings of civilians or other crimes. The court also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, who has been the public face of the Kremlin-sponsored program.

On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio broached the issue in an interview on “Face the Nation” on CBS.

“Children should be returned to their families,” Mr. Rubio said. “They shouldn’t even be a bargaining chip in regards to a broader negotiation.”

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