Alyaksandr Lukashenka said that U.S. First Lady Melania Trump had passed him a list of Ukrainian children allegedly taken to Russia and asked him to discuss the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to Lukashenka, he does not know whether the children listed are actually in Russia but promised to pass the list to Putin.
“Melania has now handed over a list of children who allegedly got lost in Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine. She asked me to pass this list to Vladimir Putin when I meet him, to discuss it so that we can find these children in Russia, who most likely fled the war. Find them and return them to Ukraine, if the children are ready and if there are people willing to take care of them. This is not just about handing them over to Zelensky. He does not care about these children. If he did, he would have ended the war long ago,” Lukashenka was quoted as saying by his press service.
He added that he would convey the U.S. position to Putin but would not insist on any actions, as he is unsure about the credibility of the list.
“If Melania asks — and this continues the letter she once passed to Putin about the children — I will convey this position to my ‘big brother,’ no problem. But I will not fight for it, because I do not know whether these children exist, whether it is true, or who compiled these lists. It is not difficult for me — I will pass it on, and we will discuss it,” he said.
On March 19, talks were held in Minsk between Lukashenka and U.S. Special Envoy John Coale. During his previous visit, Coale had also delivered a personal message to Lukashenka from Donald Trump and Melania Trump.
Recently, the United Nations recognized the deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia and Belarus as a crime against humanity. Ukraine says that nearly 20,000 children have been unlawfully taken to Russia and Belarus.
