U.S. State Department: Russia Has Not Suspended Adoptions to Americans
Confusion puts at risk pending adoptions of nearly 300 Russian children.
MOSCOW April 15, 2010— -- U.S. and Russian officials have issued conflicting statements today about whether adoptions by American parents have been suspended, putting in jeopardy the adoption of hundreds of children by American families.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is standing by its announcement that all adoptions had been halted until the two countries could work out an agreement in the wake of a Tennessee mother's decision last week to put her 7-year-old adopted son on a plane back to Moscow alone.
"Future adoptions of Russian children by citizens of the United States, which are now suspended, are possible only if such an agreement is reached," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said today.
His comments directly conflict with a report from the U.S. State Department which told ABC News today that it had reached out to the Russian embassy in Washington, and the U.S. embassy in Moscow has reached out to the Foreign Ministry and had been told on both ends that adoptions already underway are still moving.
There has also not been a suspension of new adoption cases, U.S. officials said.
The Russian embassy in Washington couldn't be immediately reached for comment on the contradictory statements. According to officials with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, there are 281 Russian children awaiting adoption by 232 American families.
U.S. officials are expected to meet with Russian authorities next week to discuss international adoptions and possibly a new bilateral agreement, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told ABC News in a statement.
"There are many loving families in the United States hoping to adopt children from Russia," Crowley said. "It is in the interest of these children that our two countries reach a suitable arrangement that allows such adoptions to continue. We have a team going to Russia next week to try to reach an understanding so suitable adoptions can continue."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview last week that he had a "special concern" about the recent treatment of Russian children adopted by Americans.
More than a dozen Russian children have died in the hands of their American adopters.
