Ukraine: Forcible Removal of Children

Priti Patel Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if she will make a statement on the future of the war in Ukraine and the forcible removal of children to Russia.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr Hamish Falconer)]

Russia’s assault on Ukraine is an unprovoked, premeditated and barbaric attack on a sovereign democratic state. For over three years, Ukrainians have defended their country with courage and a fierce determination to defend the shared values that we cherish.

President Putin continues to intensify missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities which continue to kill civilians, including children, and damage vital civilian infrastructure. President Putin is also taking children from their families. Almost 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia or to Russian temporarily controlled territory by Russian authorities. We are closely engaged with Ukraine and our international partners to ensure that Ukraine gets the support that it needs to defend itself and achieve a just and lasting peace.

President Putin has shown no readiness to engage in meaningful peace negotiations. At last week’s Foreign Ministers meeting, G7 partners were clear that international borders must not be changed by force. We will also continue to use the full might of our sanctions regime to bear down on the revenues that are funding Putin’s war and to ratchet up pressure to force him to engage in meaningful talks. To date, this Government have sanctioned over 900 individuals and entities, targeted Russia’s illicit shadow fleet and its two largest oil producers, and announced a ban on maritime liquefied natural gas, all to curb funding of Russia’s war chest.

Russia’s heinous policy to deport, indoctrinate and militarise Ukrainian children demonstrates the depths to which they will sink to eradicate Ukrainian identity and future.

The UK has committed more than £2.8 million to supporting Ukrainian efforts to facilitate the return and reintegration of children deported by Russia. Since the beginning of September, Ukraine’s pilot tracing mechanism, which the UK is co-funding, already identified more than 600 additional children who were deported to the Russian Federation or relocated in the temporarily occupied territories. The Foreign Secretary discussed this issue with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister during last week’s inaugural meeting of the UK-Ukraine strategic dialogue. We are working internationally in support of Ukraine and Canada, which co-chairs the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.

[Priti Patel]

This House has been resolute in its support for Ukraine and its defence of its territories, sovereignty and freedom. Since 2022, the amount of support we have given to Ukraine has placed us at the forefront of those working with it to secure peace on its terms. As US military officials are in Ukraine today, we need to know what role the UK Government and the coalition of the willing are playing. What is the Government’s position on reports that the United States is brokering a deal with Russia that will involve Ukraine making territorial concessions, with Russia gaining territory, or being party to some form of lease arrangement, under which it effectively controls the east of Ukraine? Was the UK involved in drawing up those proposals? Reports suggest that under those proposals, the Ukrainian armed forces will be reduced and limited. What is the Government’s view on that? Are these reports accurate, or are there proposals on the table that align more closely with our view, and the Ukrainian view, that Russia should leave Ukraine?

Can the Minister give an update on the steps being taken to pressure Russia and its economy? We know of the sanctions and measures, and that they are being kept under review, but are proactive steps being taken to press countries to stop refining Russian oil? Turkey, India and China all have refineries, and are significant importers of Russian oil. When the Prime Minister met the Turkish President last month, did the Prime Minister raise this issue, and press him to stop? We have asked that question before, but we did not get a direct yes-or-no answer. Have British Ministers raised this issue with their Chinese counterparts in the Chinese Communist party when they have gone to Beijing to conduct shuttle diplomacy? Is there an update on securing the proceeds of the sale of Chelsea to support Ukraine?

Finally, today is World Children’s Day. Our thoughts are with the 20,000 Ukrainian children reported to have been abducted by Putin. We welcome the reports of the returns, and the rescue of 1,800 Ukrainian children, but what further steps is Britain taking to secure their return as soon as possible? Is that a priority in the talks that are taking place?

[Mr Falconer]

I thank the shadow Foreign Secretary for the tone of her questions. The whole House is united both in support of Ukraine, and in outrage at the iniquity of what the Russians are doing to Ukrainian children.

We are glad of our partnership with the Ukrainian Government on the new tracing mechanism. As I said, it has made some progress since September, having identified more than 600 children who should be returned to Ukraine, and we will use our full efforts to ensure that they are returned. The shadow Foreign Secretary asks about reports made in recent days. I am sure that she will have seen the statement this morning by the US Secretary of State, in which he indicated that a range of ideas were being discussed. The Foreign Secretary is in direct regular discussions with the US Secretary of State, and he made an important statement last week at the G7 on these questions. That statement reiterated that an immediate ceasefire is urgently needed.

We should be clear that President Zelensky is ready for an immediate ceasefire, and the UK supports him in that initiative; it is President Putin who is failing to come to the table. What should be the starting point of negotiations? It was clear in the G7 statement that the current line of contact should be the starting point, and we remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force. I know that principle is held strongly across the whole House.