Russian MFA rejects claims of alleged deportation of Ukrainian children

Russian Politics & Diplomacy December 05, 16:49

"Russia is diligent and consistent in its efforts to reunite families and stands ready to cooperate on the children issue with constructive international mediators," Russia’s Foreign Ministry noted

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. Allegations that Russia has deported Ukrainian children are unfounded and false, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement regarding the UN General Assembly vote on the "Return of Ukrainian children" resolution.

The General Assembly reviewed the resolution on December 3 as part of its resumed 11th emergency special session.

"Drafted by the Kiev regime, its European curators and the Canadians, this document is filled with lies and hypocrisy and turns reality upside-down. It professes outrageous statements against Russia by accusing it of what it refers to as deporting Ukrainian children, speaking about their ‘forcible adoption’ and erasing their identity. No evidence has been presented to back these groundless allegations. Not a word was said about what happened to Ukrainian minors who were taken to Europe and lost all contact with their families," the ministry noted.

"Russia emphasizes yet again that any accusations it faces of deporting Ukrainian children are totally groundless and misleading," the statement says. "This was exclusively a matter of evacuating from combat zones minors whose lives were at risk. Today, Russia is diligent and consistent in its efforts to reunite families and stands ready to cooperate on the children issue with constructive international mediators," Russia’s Foreign Ministry noted.

About the resolution

Russian diplomats noted that the resolution was clearly aimed to "divert attention from the fact that the Kiev regime has been in total disarray, corrupted at the core and suffering one defeat after another on the battlefield." According to the ministry, another objective of the document was to discredit Russia.

"The debate on the resolution demonstrated a lack of unity among UN member states on this topic. Western delegations kept talking about what they called the deportation of Ukrainian children, while representatives of the Global Majority spoke out against targeting children with speculation of this kind and called for relying on political and diplomatic tools," Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.

The statement also commented on the speech of the President of the UN General Assembly’s 80th Session, Annalena Baerbock, who "has forgotten that the days when she served as Germany’s foreign minister are long gone." "Today, she is an international official and must meet a high standard of professionalism, impartiality and follow an equidistant approach," the ministry said.

The draft resolution received 91 votes in favor, 12 against and 57 abstentions, with 33 other members not showing up to vote at the emergency session. "In other words, more than one half, or 102 of 193 member states denied their support to this document, in one way or another. Therefore, this draft received the least number of votes in favor of all the resolutions resulting from the 11th emergency special session. It is obvious that this is not what European and NATO countries expected, considering their unwavering efforts to make the Ukraine conflict last for as long as possible to serve their vested and selfish political agendas," the Russian Foreign Ministry concluded.

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