Putin: International Adoption Should Be "Rare Exception"

Vladimir Putin weighs in on international adoption of Russian children:

The adoption of Russian children by foreign families should become a “rare exception,” prime minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

“We should try to ensure that most [Russian] children find their families here in Russia,” Putin told a government meeting in Moscow. “Foreign adoptions should become a rare exception, a last resort.”

* * *

During the Wednesday meeting, Putin criticized foreign child adoption firms for what he described as a “lack of cooperation” with Russian authorities in monitoring the situation with adopted children.

Relevant government bodies should promptly react to any cases of mistreatment of such children, he said, adding that children whose rights have been seriously violated should be given to other families or returned to Russia.