Minnesota State Senator meets with Pope Leo XIV to discuss finding abducted Ukrainian children

Minnesota (KVRR) — Minnesota State Senator Amy Klobuchar was invited to join a Ukrainian delegation to meet with the Pope.

The delegation discussed, with the Pope, current negotiations to return the over 19,000 Ukrainian children who have been abducted.

This move comes after Klobuchar and Senator Chuck Grassley led the Abducted Ukrainian Children Recovery and Accountability Act, which passed the Senate in October.

As of October 9, Ukraine and many of its partners have only managed to return about 1,800 children.

“I told him that I don’t think that these kids should be pawns in the negotiations. The kids should be returned first. Otherwise, in every conflict, people will just kidnap kids and make that part of the deal for reaching an agreement,” said Klobuchar.

As of today, Klobuchar says there have been two hundred locations where the children may have been abducted.