The summit in Montreal ended with a promise to return Ukrainian children deported to Russia

MONTREAL — More than 45 countries signed a pledge Thursday in Montreal to repatriate to Ukraine civilians, prisoners of war and children captured by Russia after its invasion of the country.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said the countries agreed to coordinate efforts to gather information about Ukrainians held in Russia and create safe routes for their return.

“Human lives must be protected. Children, civilians and prisoners of war must be allowed to return home,” she said during a press conference following a two-day summit on the human dimension of war.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said that about 42,000 Ukrainians were missing and that almost 20,000 children had been deported to Russia. According to him, to date 860 Ukrainian children have been returned home.

Joly said Thursday’s joint declaration will help coordinate existing efforts to find missing Ukrainians. She said Qatar, South Africa and the Holy See had agreed to mediate talks on the return of prisoners of war, civilians and children. Lithuania and Qatar will be transit countries for the liberated Ukrainians.

Officials have not released a list of the more than 70 countries that sent delegations to Montreal this week, and it was unclear which countries had signed the pledge as of Thursday evening. However, several major players were absent from the meeting, including China, India and Brazil. Mexico and South Africa attended the conference.

Joly said many countries felt “direct pressure from Russia” not to attend the summit. “Russia has made many statements in many capitals around the world that they should not come to Montreal,” she said. “It shows that what we are doing is shedding light on an issue that is embarrassing Russia.”

The ICC previously issued arrest warrants for both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of war crimes such as the illegal deportation of children and the illegal transfer of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia. Moscow has rejected these accusations.