Talks between the United States and Russia on a Moscow-proposed intergovernmental agreement on child adoption are productive, the U.S. Department of State said.
Russia is one of the largest sources of adoptions to the United States, accounting for about 10% of foreign adoptions, but the issue has become controversial in recent years following numerous incidents involving the mistreatment of Russian children in the United States.
"I would characterize the discussions as positive, productive. And both sides are committed to do whatever is necessary to safeguard the security of adopted children," Philip Crowley, the department's assistant secretary, told a daily press briefing in Washington.
He said the current negotiations are technical and several more rounds of talks will be held before a final agreement is reached.
"These discussions are technical in nature, since any agreement that we ultimately reach is subject to domestic law in both countries. So we would expect that there'll be further rounds of discussions before we are able to finalize an agreement," he said.
In a highly controversial act that has caused uproar worldwide, 7-year-old Artyom flew to Moscow alone in early April, with a note in which his U.S. adoptive mother claimed he was "psychopathic" and she would not take care of him any longer.
The case led to repeated calls for a ban on foreign adoptions of Russian children. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country could freeze child adoptions by U.S. citizens until the countries sign an intergovernmental agreement on adoptions.
WASHINGTON, May 13 (RIA Novosti)
