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Bonjour tout le monde,

c'est un grand honneur pour moi d'être ici avec mes collègues pour pousser pour le retour des enfants ukrainiens.

C'est un objectif important et on va continuer de travailler là-dessus.

Canada is honored to co-chair the Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.

And Andre, it was last fall at the UN General Assembly that we discussed holding this very summit here in Brussels, and it is wonderful to see that it is taking shape,

and I thank all of the countries who have come to the table to say that this is an important objective that we all have to band together and fight for.

The Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children has been useful because it has garnered international attention on an issue that Russia wants the world to forget. Nous avons 49 membres.

Since the last high-level meeting, in fact, Cyprus, Switzerland, Monaco,

Panama, and the OSCE parliamentary assembly have joined.

It is a sign that more and more countries find it completely reprehensible, as does Canada,

that Russia is stealing Ukrainian children, indoctrinating Ukrainian children,

and refusing to return these children to their families.

From Canada's perspective, our Efforts have to focus on three priorities returns.

Ukraine and its partners have done significant work,

but the pace will continue to increase, as Kaja Kallas said.

We have already 2100 children returned,

but at least 20,000 cases remain open.

The second focus is going to be rehabilitation and reintegration, making sure that children who have been traumatized by prolonged separation from their family,

from their community,

from their culture are able to have the psychological care and support from a community perspective going forward. And thirdly, it is accountability.

La reddition de comptes,

la déportation illégale et le transfert forcé d'enfants ukrainiens par la Russie constituent une grave violation du droit international.

Donc le Canada est là toujours pour le droit international.

On va continuer de travailler avec nos partenaires toujours.

I want to conclude by saying that this summit. Is not the end of this effort.

In fact,

we are going to continue to work together to build the coalition of more and more countries to ensure that we're collectively working to bring the Ukrainian children home.

And in that vein,

I want to indicate that Canada will be hosting a summit. On September 28th and 29th in Toronto.

That's this year so that we can continue the efforts.

We will build on the work that we accomplished today.

We will ensure that we are unified in our efforts to bring the Ukrainian children home to their families where they ought to be.

Thank you.