Volodymyr Zelensky asked his Chinese counterpart for help in the case in which the ICC issued an arrest warrant on behalf of Vladimir Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that he had asked his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for help in the case of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the return of Ukrainian children deported by Russia, whose number is officially estimated at at least 20,000 by Kiev, Digi24 reports. He also said he had warned Beijing against any possible sales of Chinese arms to Russia.
"I addressed this request to the Chinese president" during the phone conversation on Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a press conference in Kiev. "We must engage (...) various countries to put pressure on the Russian aggressor and terrorist, who kidnapped so many of our children," he denounced. "It's really difficult to do," Volodymyr Zelensky said to journalists.
The UN and other international actors are trying to "do something" to solve this problem, but "for now, the results are weak", he announces.
Kiev estimates that at least 19,400 children have been "abducted" and taken to Russia or Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russians since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, and that many have been placed with families, in some cases thousands kilometers away from their homes.
More than 360 children have been recovered by the Ukrainian authorities, according to official data.
In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with these deportations.
The court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian commissioner in charge of children.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, who is investigating more than one case of possible war crimes or crimes against humanity committed during the Russian offensive, estimated that there were "thousands" of alleged deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia or Ukrainian territories controlled by Moscow .
Volodymyr Zelensky also said on Friday that he warned Beijing, in his conversation with Xi Jinping, against any possible sale of Chinese arms to Russia.
"Ukraine would like all countries to understand the risks of supplying any type of weaponry to Russia," he stressed. Volodymyr Zelensky said he had "heard a positive response" from Xi Jinping on the matter.
