Russia cannot be trusted and must be held accountable for its war crimes and ongoing genocide, Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa said in a wide-ranging interview with The Sun, published on March 29.
"Aggressor(s) should not be appeased, aggression should not be rewarded... we can not live in a world where impunity prevails over the rule of law," Betsa said.
"Russia has committed genocide, and Russia continues to commit genocide on an industrial scale, every day, every single minute," Betsa said.
The U.S. has held separate meetings with Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia to kickstart peace negotiations. A ceasefire and returning Ukrainian children are among the key topics on the table.
Betsa decried Russia for conducting mass deportations in Ukraine, adding that deportations began in 2014 in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
"Now with the full-scale invasion, Russia deports Ukrainian children, it abducts Ukrainian children... it erases their identity," Betsa said, adding that Russian authorities change the names of Ukrainian children, issue Russian passports, and actively try to Russify them.
"There should be a robust response by the international community," Betsa said, adding that Russia's deportation of Ukrainian children is still ongoing.
Since February 2022, at least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied areas and transferred to other Russian-controlled territories or Russia, according to the Ukrainian national database "Children of War."
The Ukrainian government has returned 1,247 children so far, according to the Ministry of Reintegration.
"We have so many children to whom Russia also uses sexual violence, and there are cases which are registered like that," Betsa said. "We can not trust Russia, Russia lies and they know how to lie, so no one should be fooled by Russia."
"No one should believe Russia's words, Russia's statements to the media," Betsa said when asked if a ceasefire deal would be brokered.
Russia's commitment to peace talks should be observed by its actions, Betsa said, adding that Ukraine has agreed to a full ceasefire, but Russia has not.
"Ukraine will never accept territorial compromises, unjust peace. It will never accept (a) situation where our prisoners of war, illegally detained persons, and children are not returned. They should return all of them, and children should be returned unconditionally," Betsa said.
Alex Cadier
