**Ukraine Official: Russia Should Not Be Trusted, Continues Genocide**
Russia cannot be trusted and must be held accountable for its war crimes and ongoing genocide, said Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa in an interview with The Sun.
Betsa stressed that aggressors should not be appeased, and aggression should not be rewarded. She added that Russia has committed genocide on an industrial scale, every day, and every minute.
**Ukraine Asks for Strong International Response**
The U.S. has held separate meetings with Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia to kickstart peace negotiations. A ceasefire and returning Ukrainian children are among the key topics on the table. However, Betsa decried Russia’s actions, saying that it conducts mass deportations in Ukraine.
**Russia Deports Ukrainian Children**
Betsa also spoke about Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children, saying that they abduct and erase their identity. She added that Russian authorities change the names of Ukrainian children, issue Russian passports, and try to Russify them.
**Ukrainian Government Works to Return Abducted Children**
Since February 2022, at least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied areas and transferred to other Russian-controlled territories or Russia. The Ukrainian government has returned 1,247 children so far.
**No Trust in Russia’s Commitment to Peace Talks**
Betsa emphasized that Ukraine cannot trust Russia’s commitment to peace talks. She said that Russia lies and should not be believed when making statements about a ceasefire deal.
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