Ukraine Action Summit meets in Washington, calls for return of abducted children, security guarantees
The Ukraine Action Summit met in Washington on Oct. 26, calling for U.S. lawmakers to continue support for Kyiv using decisive legal instruments.
"We bring people together to learn... to educate themselves and to use their voices to speak to their elected officials to support Ukraine," Marianna Tretiak, Chair of the American Coalition for Ukraine (ACU) Board, told the Kyiv Independent.
The summit is focused on four key advocacy issues meant to aid Kyiv amid Russia's war against Ukraine.
"The first is the passage of bills that have to do with asset seizure, making Russia... pay with the seized funds," Tretiak said. "The second priority we have is to... pass the sanctions bill, the Sanctioned Russia Act, which we were also advocating for at the last summit."
Since the last summit, at least another 25-30 co-sponsors have backed the Sanctioned Russia Act as a means to push Russia toward peace talks.
"(T)he third policy pillar that we have for the summit is the return of Ukraine's children. There are a few bills that have to do with this issue," Tretiak said.
Ukraine regularly tries to return abducted Ukrainian children. On Sept. 17, Kyiv returned 16 children from Russian-occupied territories, Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak announced.
Meanwhile, high-ranking Russian officers are overseeing military training programs for Ukrainian children from occupied territories and running a system of youth militarization, an investigation by the Kyiv Independent has found.
The ACU's fourth policy pillar this year is security guarantees for Ukraine as Kyiv and its allies push for a ceasefire.
"(T)here's no legislation, but it's really important... And that's security guarantees for Ukraine, and really speaking about Ukraine as an asset, as an ally, and as a country that you want to be a partner with, because they'll help you improve your defense," Tretiak said.
Ukraine and its allies have been developing potential security guarantees in recent months as Kyiv and its allies work to secure a potential ceasefire or peace deal.
The Kremlin has repeatedly issued maximalist demands to Ukraine and has refused to engage in leader-level talks, repeatedly refusing to engage in meaningful diplomacy or a halt to hostilities.
Asami Terajima
