Four countries joined the coalition for the return of abducted Ukrainian children
Cyprus, Switzerland, Monaco, and Panama have joined the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children abducted by Russia, bringing the coalition’s total membership to 49 participants.
The announcement was made by Anita Anand, who said the coalition has helped draw global attention to the issue of Ukrainian children forcibly taken by Russia.
Anand noted that, since the coalition’s last high-level meeting, the four countries, along with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, had officially joined the initiative.
“The Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children has been useful because it has garnered international attention on an issue that Russia wants the world to forget,” Anand said.
She added that the coalition’s growing membership demonstrates that more countries consider Russia’s actions unacceptable.
“More and more countries find it completely reprehensible, as does Canada, that Russia is stealing Ukrainian children, indoctrinating Ukrainian children and refusing to return these children to their families,” Anand said.
The EU imposed new sanctions on Russia over the abduction of Ukrainian children
The Council of the European Union on May 11 imposed sanctions on 16 individuals and seven legal entities over the systematic illegal deportation, forced transfer and forced assimilation of Ukrainian children by Russia.
According to the EU Council, the sanctions target those involved in removing Ukrainian minors from occupied territories, transferring them to Russia or Russian-controlled areas, placing them for unlawful adoption, and subjecting them to militarised and ideological indoctrination.
The EU estimates that Russia has deported or abducted nearly 20,500 Ukrainian children since the start of its full-scale war against Ukraine.
Among the sanctioned entities are federal state institutions connected to Russia’s Ministry of Education, including the All-Russian Children's Centre Orlyonok, Scarlet Sails and Smena.
According to the EU Council, these centres organise programmes for Ukrainian children that include pro-Russian ideological indoctrination through so-called patriotic events, ideological education and military-oriented activities.
German defence minister dismisses Putin's claims that war will end soon as yet another deception
During a visit to Kyiv on May 11, Boris Pistorius warned that statements by Russian leader Vladimir Putin about a possible end to the war in Ukraine could be another attempt to mislead the international community.
Speaking alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Mykhailo Fedorov, Pistorius said Putin was attempting to distract attention from Russia’s battlefield difficulties and growing military losses.
“At present, he can hardly point to any territorial gains, and his army continues to lose parts of the territory it had captured,” Pistorius said. “That is precisely why, given that Putin continues to deceive and manipulate the public, it is our duty as a partner of Ukraine to further strengthen Ukraine militarily.”
The German minister stressed that if Russia genuinely wanted to end the war, Putin could do so immediately by withdrawing Russian troops or by proposing concrete negotiations without preconditions.
Pistorius also said he fears Moscow’s recent rhetoric may be part of a broader strategy of deception and hybrid warfare.
“I hope I am wrong in seeing these as another attempt at deception, but it cannot be ruled out,” he said.
The minister added that Putin had repeatedly violated previous agreements during earlier negotiation efforts and ceasefire discussions.
“Every time it came to a ceasefire or peace talks, he ultimately acted in bad faith or in a way that was completely different from what had been agreed or stated during the negotiations,” Pistorius said.