Peace plan. Russians may use the "family reunification" clause against Ukraine – explanation

Russia could even use the family reunification clause in the US peace plan against Ukraine. About the problems with this provision for text by LIGA.net said Tetyana Katrychenko, head of the Media Initiative for Human Rights, and Suleiman Mamutov, legal counsel at Amnesty International Ukraine.

The least controversial clause of all the versions of the US peace plan calls for the creation of a special humanitarian committee. Among its tasks is to introduce a program of so-called family reunification.

"However, no one really knows what might be behind it," Katrychenko said.

International law does not have a unified definition of the concept of family – the main sources only establish that it is a natural and fundamental element of society, but its definition may depend on the legal system of the state, explained to LIGA.net Mamutov.

He noted that in international law, the concept of "family" cannot be narrowed to direct relatives: all stable family or social ties broken by war are a separated family.

And legal uncertainty is an ideal ground for political maneuvers and manipulations, as "family reunification" can be interpreted in any way, the legal adviser added.

"It is really impossible to avoid the humanitarian issue. After all, we are talking about thousands of civilian hostages whose fates are unknown, and families torn apart by filtration and deportation. But even this point can be used by the Russians against Ukraine," the LIGA.net's publication says.

• The Russians have taken at least 20,000 children from Ukraine, and only 1,400 have been returned. About 1.6 million Ukrainian children still live in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Read more about the situation with the "family reunification" clause in the US peace plan, read in the text by LIGA.net.