ROME — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) met with Pope Leo XIV Friday at the Vatican along with a delegation from Ukraine working to return the over 19,000 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia during Putin’s brutal invasion.

“Pope Leo is a true moral force for peace and justice and a champion for children around the world. It was an honor to meet him as part of our mission to bring home the Ukrainian children abducted by Russia and chart a path towards peace and healing for Ukraine,” said Klobuchar. “We cannot accept a world where children are abducted during wartime and used as hostages for negotiations. The United States must remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom, and we should all heed Pope Leo’s example of serving those in need, pursuing the common good, and calling for peace.”

Klobuchar has been a leader in the Senate in supporting Ukraine after Russia’s brutal invasion and, as a former prosecutor, has led on human trafficking issues in the Senate. She was invited by the Ukrainians to join their delegation to the Vatican to advocate for the return of the abducted Ukrainian children and attend the meeting with the Pope.

While in Rome, Klobuchar also spoke with Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, and personal papal envoy for peace in Ukraine, to discuss efforts to bring home Ukrainian kids abducted by Russia.

Klobuchar has been a champion for legislative efforts to return the abducted Ukrainian children. Klobuchar leads the bipartisan Abducted Ukrainian Children Recovery and Accountability Act with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), which passed the Senate as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2026 in October.

This legislation is complementary to the Designating the Russian Federation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act, which was introduced in September by Klobuchar and Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Katie Britt (R-AL) to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law if it fails to return the more than 19,000 Ukrainian children that have been kidnapped during the course of the war.

In March, Klobuchar and Grassley were joined by Senator Durbin in leading a bipartisan letter calling for the State Department to continue supporting efforts to investigate Russia’s abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children.

To date, Ukrainian authorities have received at least 19,546 confirmed reports of unlawful deportations and forced transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia, Belarus or Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. The abductions aim to erase the children’s Ukrainian names, language, and identity. As of October 9, Ukraine and its partners have only managed to return about 1,800 abducted children.

The State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report found Russia recruits or uses child soldiers, has a state-sponsored policy or pattern of human trafficking, and is among the worst hubs for human trafficking in the world.