Zelensky Says Men of Mobilization Age Abroad Should Come Home

At a joint press conference in Dublin on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was asked whether he wants Ireland and other European countries to return Ukrainian men who are not complying with military registration requirements.

The remarks came after a bilateral meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin at Government Buildings, on the eve of the ninth European Political Community summit.

“I want people who left Ukraine and who are of mobilization age to be in Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “Of course, we very much want them to come back.”

“But again, these are very difficult questions because there are many different circumstances explaining why people left,” he added.

Families Split by the War

Zelensky recalled that large numbers of people left at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, and that many families were divided, with men remaining at the front while wives and children went abroad.

Prolonged separation has broken up many families, he said, which is why the question of return is difficult.

He also said, according to Ukrainian News and Censor.NET, that many of those who left had not come back and should return. “Some are defending lives and their country, while others are not,” he said. “It is unfair, but that is life.”

Europe Seeks a Mechanism

Zelensky said that in meetings with European leaders, they themselves raise the return of Ukrainians who left the country in violation of the law. Europeans, he said, are proposing to find a mechanism that would allow such citizens to be returned.

He did not say how that might work, or whether any agreements are already in place. The European Union has already moved to tighten protection rules for draft-eligible men, and a Ukrainian-run return-advice center in Berlin has drawn almost no interest from men of conscription age.

Martin called the issue complex, given that many people left Ukraine because of the war. Ireland, he said, continues to discuss the return of citizens with the Ukrainian government, particularly because Ukraine will need people to rebuild the country once the fighting ends.

Around 120,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland since the start of the full-scale invasion, and about 80,000 remain there, the Irish prime minister said.

A Summit in Dublin

Zelensky arrived in the Irish capital for the European Political Community summit and said he had bilateral and multilateral meetings planned with about 20 leaders.

He confirmed that he would meet U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Dublin on Thursday, after their talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, following two days of negotiations in Abu Dhabi.