A bipartisan group of senators introduced a resolution this week calling for the return of abducted Ukrainian children from Russia before any peace agreement is finalized over ending the war against Ukraine.
While the resolution is non-binding, it serves as a significant statement from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers on an issue that is at the center of war crime allegations against Russian President Vladimir Putin and one of his top officials.
And it comes at a time when President Trump has shown enormous deference to the Kremlin in efforts to bring an end to the war. Trump said he held an “excellent” call with Putin on Monday, dropped his demands for an immediate ceasefire and accepted the Russian leader’s offer to provide a memo as a starting point of negotiations with Ukraine.
The resolution, sponsored by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), has backing from some of Trump’s biggest supporters in the Senate as well as those who are outspoken in their views that Putin is a liar and murderer. The co-sponsors are Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), John Fetterman (D-Penn.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
It follows a letter sent to Trump in April by 40 religious leaders, many from the Evangelical community that serves as a powerful voting block for the president, urging the return of Ukraine’s abducted children before any peace deal is finalized.
Ukrainian officials and NGOs believe Russia holds about 700,000 Ukrainian children it has kidnapped from Ukrainian territory, although Kyiv has only been able to identify about 20,000 in Russian custody.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and one of his top officials, Maria Lvova-Belova, the Children’s Rights Commissioner for the Russian president, over allegations for the unlawful deportation of children and that of unlawful transfer of population.
Researchers with the Yale Humanitarian Lab have identified a systematic campaign by Russia to abduct and re-educate Ukrainian children as Russian citizens and future soldiers.
In March, the Trump administration ended funding for the Yale program, which was working to identify and track down the kidnapped Ukrainian children.
As of April, 1,274 of these abducted Ukrainian children had been returned.
