Lubinets on the return of Ukrainian children: "We do not have face-to-face negotiations with the Russians"
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine denies holding personal meetings with Russians to discuss the release of Ukrainian children. Qatar is negotiating with Russian representatives, but the Ukrainian side is not present during these meetings.
Ukraine is using all available opportunities and is constantly working to find new ways to return Ukrainian children. In particular, it cooperates with Qatar, which is negotiating with Russia. However, representatives of Ukraine are not present during these meetings. This was written by the Ombudsman of Ukraine Dmytro Lubinets, reports UNN.
Currently, Qatar is our reliable partner, and the agreements with it have already resulted in children returning home
Lubinets noted that Qatar is holding talks with representatives of Russia, but the Ukrainian side is not present during these meetings.
We do not have face-to-face talks with the Russians, as the media noted, reprinting Russian propagandists' claims of a "face-to-face" meeting. You will not see a photo of us sitting at a common table, because such an event simply did not happen
Lubinets said that Ukraine, unlike Russia, does not immediately tell about its citizens back home. "We communicate the result, not the process. Therefore, we report the result of the negotiations upon their completion, since the agreements can break down at any time and for any far-fetched reason," the Ombudsman said.
He said that the search for Ukrainian children and information about them does not stop for a day. He also emphasized that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has not provided any information about the locations and conditions of Ukrainian children, saying only that there are more than 700,000 such children. This figure, according to Lubinets, was recently mentioned by the representatives of the Russian Federation themselves during the report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
He also explained why there are so few details about the negotiations.
"The ongoing negotiations mediated by Qatar are not easy. Like any negotiations that are going on to return our citizens home. We have thousands of children in deportation, civilians in illegal prisons and prisoners of war held in inadequate conditions. The Ombudsman's Office does not disclose more information than necessary," said Lubinets.
