Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan speaks with Russian foreign minister for an exclusive interview

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday to discuss returning Ukrainian children.

According to Brennan, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said President Donald Trump asked for "thousands of Ukrainian children who were taken into Russia to be released" last month as part of what the president called "confidence building measures."

When asked what steps Russia has taken to meet President Trump's request, Minister Lavrov responded saying:

"Long before the request coming from Washington, we have been addressing the issue of the fate of the kids who during the conflict found themselves outside their homes, outside their families. Most of these kids were attending [an orphanage]...And as soon as and we announce whatever details we have about those kids, and as soon as...the parents or other relatives make themselves available. They are getting the kids back. This has been the process for the last almost three years between the ombudsman of Russia and Ukraine."

Brennan followed by asking Lavrov if there's no new release of thousands of children at the president's request, Lavrov said, "No."

During the interview, Brennan and Lavrov talked about negotiations with Ukraine, with Brennan asking if Lavrov takes President Trump's word seriously when he says he'll put secondary tariffs on oil coming out of Russia if they don't make a deal to end the war in Ukraine, and Lavrov said:

"We hear many things coming from President Trump. President Trump said that he's sick and tired of the situation in this settlement, especially yesterday when he commented the statements by Zelenskyy. And President Trump has his own proposals and has his own style in mentioning those proposals in his public speeches. We concentrate, as I said, on the real negotiations which President Trump supports and instructed his people to continue to engage in these negotiations."

Later in the interview, Brennan and Lavrov discussed the Russian nuclear power station, located in Zaporizhzhia, with Brennan asking Lavrov if he agrees with President Trump's statements that the best security would be for the U.S. and Ukraine to operate it together, with Lavrov saying:

"No, we never received such an offer and if we do, we will explain that the power station, Zaporizhzhia power nuclear power station is run by the Russian Federation state corporation called Rosatom. It is being under monitoring of the IAEA personnel permanently located on the site. And if not for the Ukrainian regular attempts to attack the station and to create a nuclear disaster for Europe and for Ukraine as well, the safety requirements are fully implemented and it is in very good hands."

Brennan and Lavrov then talked about the future of Crimea, with Lavrov saying, "Russia does not negotiate its own territory."

Following this, Brennan and Lavrov discussed the Trump Administration's intelligence community findings that Russia will put nuclear weapons in space, prompting Brennan to ask Lavrov if Russia intends to violate past treaties and actually put a nuclear weapon in space, to which Lavrov responded saying:

"We have been championing in the United Nations a legal prohibition of placing any nuclear weapons in outer space. And the United States, at least during the Biden administration this was the case, they were categorically against it... I cannot comment about the validity of the intelligence reports...We never received any facts which would confirm the allegations."

To watch Brennan's full interview with Lavrov, click here.