The US reproaches the meeting of a UN official with the Russian Children’s Commissioner, wanted by the CFI

May 24. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The United States Department of State expressed its “deep concern” on Wednesday over the recent meeting held in Russia between the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, and the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“We are deeply concerned that a senior United Nations diplomat has met with a fugitive subject to an ICC warrant for committing war crimes against children,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. .

Thus, Miller has reaffirmed the accusations of the TPI that Russia “is forcibly deporting” Ukrainian minors to territories inside Russia, and “they are denying parents and legal guardians access to these children”, to whom they are issuing Russian passports in order to “take away a part of their identity”.

Gamba and Lvova-Belova held a meeting last Sunday in which the United Nations official received a commitment from the Russian side to address the necessary measures to “urgently” reunite minors displaced by the war in Ukraine and promote their reunification with your families.

Thus, Moscow conveyed to the United Nations its commitment to speak of “urgent measures to guarantee the rights of minors and to prioritize their departure and reunification in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.” “Children continue to be the main victims of the war in Ukraine,” denounced Gamba.

At the end of March, the CFI issued an arrest warrant against the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Lvova-Belova, considering that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that both have “individual criminal responsibility” for the transfer of Ukrainian minors to the territory Russian.

The agency considers that, especially Putin, he is responsible for this alleged crime either for his “direct” commission or for having been unable to “exercise adequate control over the civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts” in the framework of a war started fifteen months ago.

The Kremlin, for its part, has consistently denied that it is forcibly deporting Ukrainian children in the face of accusations made by kyiv and its allies. According to the Ukrainian government, at least 16,000 children have ended up displaced against their will on Russian territory since the start of the conflict.