Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada’s ongoing work to secure the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russian officials shows how Ottawa is trying to work with a range of countries to advance practical, humanitarian goals.

In an interview ahead of a Monday conference in Brussels, Anand said Ottawa is focused on what it can achieve for Ukrainians, rather than whether Russia is currently committing an act of genocide.

“For me, the important question is, what are we doing here and now, what are we doing to bring Ukrainian children home,” she told The Canadian Press.

“The issues relating to terminology and the classification of the illegal and unjustifiable Russian invasion will be heard in the international court system. We all know that Russia’s actions are against international law — they’re reprehensible and we will do all we can to hold Russia to account.”

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Since March 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin and a senior Russian official have been subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant on charges of unlawful deportation and transfer of children.

Ukraine and its allies believe Russia has effectively abducted 20,000 children; about 2,000 of them have returned. Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab believes there are actually 35,000 Ukrainian children being forcibly held in Russia, the parts of Ukraine it occupies and Belarus.