Mr. President,

The Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with the EU statement.

The Netherlands thanks the Acting High Commissioner for this important briefing on the situation of human rights in Ukraine.

We are appalled by the repeated discoveries of mass graves in Ukraine since Russia launched its war of aggression and are shocked to hear that evidence increasingly points to the perpetration of war crimes by Russian military forces.

Not only must Russia put an end to its blatant violations of human rights, but these atrocities must be condemned in the strongest possible terms and may not remain unpunished.

My country considers that respect for international law is essential to maintain the international legal order. This is why the Netherlands is deeply alarmed by the recent attempted annexation, by the Russian Federation, of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.

We do not recognize this extremely disturbing annexation and we urge the international community to join us in condemning it.

My country strongly regrets that the Russian Federation has chosen the path of further escalation, and we repeat our call on Russia to respect international law and withdraw all its armed forces from the internationally recognized territories of Ukraine.

The Netherlands remains firmly committed to respecting the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine.

Madam Acting High Commissioner,

Could you elaborate on the worrying reports that Russia would have forcibly deported thousands of Ukrainian children to territories under Russian military control and Russia?

Thank you