Russia drafts agreements on adoption with several European countries

Russia drafts agreements on adoption with several European countries

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is drafting agreements on child adoption with France, Spain, Britain and Israel, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Sergei Vitelis said on Thursday.

"Foreign adoptions should be put into action only on the basis of such agreements. We will hold all countries to this," Russian Children's Ombudsman press service cited Vitelis as saying.

The draft agreements are similar to the one being discussed with the U.S. A senior U.S. delegation arrived in Russia for talks on adoption issues on Thursday and will hold a preliminary meeting on Friday ahead of key Moscow talks, which are planned for May 12.

Of the 18 Russian children whose deaths were caused by their foreign adoptive parents since the collapse of the Soviet Union, 17 of these cases occurred in the U.S., Vitelis said.

The issue came back into focus recently when a seven-year-old boy was put on a plane alone back to Moscow by his U.S. adoptive mother, who said he was "psychopathic."

The case led to repeated calls for a ban on foreign adoptions of Russian children. However, experts have pointed out that almost 2,000 children are killed by adults every year in Russia.

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