Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga will visit Brussels on May 11, where his participation in a series of important international events is planned. As part of the visit, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will join meetings with representatives of the European Union and NATO, as well as participate in the ministerial meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.
This is reported by Finway
Main Topics of Negotiations in the EU and NATO
At the beginning of the visit, Andriy Sybiga will speak at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. The main topics of discussion will be increasing sanctions pressure on Russia, further support for Ukraine, and promoting peace initiatives. Special attention will be paid to accelerating Ukraine’s accession process to the European Union and opening negotiation clusters for integration.
In addition, the minister’s agenda includes bilateral negotiations with European partners and the signing of important intergovernmental documents. Sybiga will also visit NATO headquarters, where he will hold talks with Secretary General Mark Rutte. Discussions will focus on strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities, protection against threats from Russia, and further advancement of the peace process.
International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children
“A key event of the visit will be the minister’s participation in a high-level meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, organized jointly by Ukraine, the European Union, and Canada.”
This meeting will involve Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, European Commissioner Marta Kos, as well as representatives from countries and international organizations involved in the coalition.
The session will be dedicated to coordinating international efforts to return Ukrainian children who were illegally taken by Russia. Participants will discuss practical steps in areas such as determining the whereabouts of the children, developing mechanisms for their return, as well as issues of rehabilitation, reintegration, increasing sanctions and legal pressure on Russia, and coordinating diplomatic efforts.
The International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children was established in 2024 by Ukraine and Canada as a platform to unite international initiatives and respond to cases of illegal deportation and forced displacement of Ukrainian children by Russia.
According to the Office of the President, as of April 22, thanks to the work of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, over 2,100 children abducted by Russia have already been returned to Ukraine, including 150 since the beginning of 2026.
According to official data, during the full-scale war, over 20,000 Ukrainian children remain in Russia and in temporarily occupied territories. At the same time, the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets noted that Russia may have illegally taken about 150,000 children, while the Commissioner for Children’s Rights Daria Gerasimchuk mentioned figures in the hundreds of thousands – approximately 200,000 to 300,000.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova on suspicion of committing war crimes related to the forced deportation and displacement of populations, including children, from occupied territories of Ukraine.
In July 2023, Maria Lvova-Belova stated that Russia had “accepted” about 4.8 million residents of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, of which over 700,000 are children. According to her, most of these children arrived in Russia with their parents or other relatives.