By Jared Whitley

Biden’s handling of the situation was disastrous. His crippling of American energy production, for example, drove up global energy prices and helped fill Russia’s coffers in the process. This emboldened Russia’s position and all but rolled out the red carpet for Putin’s tanks. Trump wasted little time when he took office to begin trying to broker an immediate peace, an effort the world should take solace over. But beyond attempting to broker a peace, President Trump must address another dire consequence of the war: the kidnapping of Ukrainian children.

This issue has rightly garnered attention, given that the lives of thousands of innocent children are at stake. And Trump’s negotiating skills make him uniquely positioned to help bring these children home, just as he successfully facilitated the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas in Gaza through direct diplomacy and pressure.

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The president could begin by permanently unfreezing funds for the Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab’s project. Fully restoring the project would preserve critical data that tracks the location and identity of kidnapped Ukrainian children, which is essential for coordinating efforts to reunite them with their families. The project gathers and organizes information on missing children, their last-known locations, and any leads that could help locate them. Without this program, the ability of both U.S. and Ukrainian authorities to rescue these children is hindered.

This is an issue that transcends partisan divides. A bipartisan group of 17 lawmakers has sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, demanding clarity on the project’s future. Organized by Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), the letter states: 

The foreign aid freeze has jeopardized, and may ultimately eliminate, our informational support of Ukraine… We have reason to believe that the data from the repository has been permanently deleted. If true, this would have devastating consequences.

In response, the administration took a positive step last week, saying it would extend funding for the program for six weeks. “A lot of children are living in Russia right now,” President Trump said. “That’s a horrible situation.”

But advocates for these children say that a six-week extension of the program is not enough and called on the administration to continue until every kidnapped child returns home.

(Of course, one wonders why Democrat lawmakers – now so concerned about displaced Ukrainian children – shrugged their shoulders at four years of broken border that contributed to unrestricted child trafficking over the US-Mexico border.)

The concern over Ukraine isn’t limited to politicians. Recent polls show that nearly two-thirds of Americans sympathize with Ukraine, and nearly half believe Washington can do more to support the country in its war against Russia. I’m one of those who believes Washington can do more, which is – again – why I voted for Trump three times. 

Despite cutting funding for the Yale project, the Trump administration has publicly assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that it will “work closely with both parties to help make sure those children are returned home,” according to a joint statement by Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. 

The president wants a swift end to hostilities. He has already helped negotiate a limited, albeit fragile, ceasefire on certain energy and infrastructure sites, and there is hope that Moscow and Kyiv may soon reach an agreement to a senseless war that never should have started. 

Jared Whitley is a longtime politico who has worked in the US Senate, White House, and defense industry. He has an MBA from Hult business school in Dubai, and in 2024, he won the Top of the Rockies award for best columnist.