“Children Are Not Bargaining Chips”: UN Rebukes Russia’s Proposal to Trade Abducted Ukrainian Minors for POWs
The United Nations has strongly condemned a reported Russian proposal to exchange Ukrainian children, illegally deported to Russia, for Russian prisoners of war, calling such a suggestion a blatant violation of international law.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Ukrinform.
UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq emphasized the fundamental principle that civilians, especially children, must never be treated as tools in political or military negotiations.
“It is evident that all innocent civilians, including children, must not be used as bargaining chips,” Haq stated. “This principle applies in every conflict around the world.”
The remark followed a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who disclosed during a joint press conference with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen in Vienna that the Kremlin had suggested exchanging deported Ukrainian children for captured Russian soldiers.
“We do not exchange our children for anything. That’s absolutely unjust. Honestly, it’s madness,” Zelenskyy said.“They proposed: we give them prisoners, and they give us our children. This defies both common sense and international law.”
Zelenskyy underlined that recovering abducted children requires not barter but strategic diplomacy and persistent bilateral engagement.
“That’s why we’re involving so many nations, and so many individuals with influence to return the thousands of Ukrainian children stolen by Russia back to their families,” he added.
The UN has repeatedly stressed that the forced deportation of children during armed conflicts constitutes a serious breach of international humanitarian law and may amount to a war crime.
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