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U.S.-Russian talks on child adoption prolonged for extra day

18 June 2010 04:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russian and U.S. negotiators on child adoption did not come to an agreement again after another round of talks in Washington and consultations are prolonged for one more day, the U.S. Department of State said, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.
Three-day bilateral talks on a new draft deal on child adoption began in Washington on June 14.
"The talks being extended an extra day, the parties are making steady progress... Again, clearly there is engagement and a willingness on both sides to reach an agreement and we believe progress has been made, but it’s just going to take some more time to work out the details," Mark Toner, an acting deputy department spokesman, told a daily press briefing.
Russia is one of the largest sources of adoptions for U.S. families, accounting for about 10% of foreign adoptions, but the issue has become controversial in recent years following several incidents involving the mistreatment of Russian children in the United States.
In a recent incident, a 7-year-old boy was put on a plane alone to Moscow with a note from his U.S. adoptive mother, who claimed he was "psychopathic."
The case led to repeated calls for a ban on foreign adoptions of Russian children. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Russia could freeze child adoptions by U.S. citizens until the countries sign a formal agreement regulating them.