[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 13, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H1989]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PEACE TALKS WITH UKRAINE

  (Mr. VINDMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. VINDMAN. Mr. Speaker, we have all seen the recent news on 
Ukraine: Zelenskyy is set to meet Putin. Putin must immediately agree 
to a 30-day cease-fire. To force that, the United States and President 
Trump must increase the pressure on Putin.
  This is not a regional fight. Ukraine's sovereignty is a U.S. 
national security issue. It is also a humanitarian crisis. As of 2023, 
the U.S. State Department had documented the abduction of approximately 
20,000 Ukrainian children. That number has only increased. The program 
that was keeping track of those children has recently been cut.
  These Russian abductions represent a deliberate effort to eliminate 
Ukrainian national identity, destroy family ties, and are a specific 
element of a genocide crime under international criminal law. The 
Russians claim, further, that 700,000 children have been seized. None 
of this can stand.
  As someone who has traveled over a dozen times to Ukraine in order to 
investigate war crimes, I know how important it is that we make a stand 
now, not later. We must uphold our American values by seeking peace in 
the region and demanding the immediate return of Ukraine's missing 
children.
  We will see this week whether Mr. Putin shows up for peace talks with 
Ukraine in Turkiye or remains an international pariah and coward.

                          ____________________