Putin signs bill to ban US adoptions

Updated December 29 2012 - 2:08pm, first published 1:54pm

Russia's move to prohibit Americans from adopting Russian orphans is the latest threat to the Obama administration's flagging attempt to ''reset'' relations between the two Cold War rivals. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has signed a bill to ban US adoptions of Russian children that the country's parliament approved in retaliation for a new US law sanctioning Russians accused of human rights violations. The prohibition goes into effect on January 1, according to a statement from the Kremlin. The US expressed ''deep concerns'' about the ban, with a State Department spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, saying more than 60,000 Russian children had been adopted by Americans in the past 20 years. The State Department reports that 962 Russian children were adopted by Americans in 2011, about one in 10 US international adoptions. ''It is misguided to link the fate of children to unrelated political considerations,'' he said in a statement yesterday. ''The welfare of children is simply too important to tie to the political aspects of our relationship.'' The action and reaction reflect a relationship already strained by friction over other issues, such as democracy promotion, missile defence, weapons proliferation and the conflict in Syria.

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