Putin: Ban on US Adoptions is ‘Adequate Reaction’

During the annual big conference at the International Trade Center in Krasnaya Presnya, 20 December 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin answers journalists’ questions.

Answering the first question at his annual international press conference in Moscow, Vladimir Putin said he supported the ban on US adoptions of Russian children, according to RT.

The question dealt with the ban on adoption of Russian orphans by US citizens, approved by Lower House in second reading as part of a package of measures drafted as retaliation to the US Magnitsky Act.

Putin answered that the Magnitsky Act should be prioritized as it is a deliberately unfriendly move aimed against Russia.

They replace one anti-Russian law with another and this indicates that our foreign partners are living in the past and intend to maintain the relations rooted in the standoff between the two systems, he stated.

As for the adoption ban Putin said that to his knowledge, the majority of Russians disapprove of foreign adoptions. He added that he fully agreed with Prime Minister Medvedev who said that Russia should develop its own adoption system.

The President said the amendment is not against adoptions, but it’s a measure against the US courts and laws that prevent proper control over adopted children by Russian diplomats. Putin called such practice a humiliation and noted that no one should tolerate such an attitude.

I think the answer from the State Duma is very emotional but still adequate, the President concluded.

With December 21, 2012 quickly approaching, the President’s critics joke:“Putin promises too much. He must know for sure when the world will end.” The date picked for his media conference – just a day before the rumored ‘doomsday’ – was also subject of ironic comments.

“I know when the end of the world will come,” Putin stated. “In about 4.5 billion years,” he said, adding that the sun’s life is expected to end by then and the “reactor will turn off.” But before that, the sun will become a white dwarf, the President observed.

Decision on South Ossetia, Abkhazia independence irreversibleSpeaking about Moscow-Tbilisi relations, Putin said that Georgia’s incumbent President Mikhail Saakashvili brought the situation to a deadlock.

“To be honest, I’m not quite sure how to get out of it,” he admitted. “But we would really like to normalize relations with Georgia.”

Putin stressed that Russia cannot change its decision on the recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The Georgian leadership refuses to recognize the two republics independence and keeps accusing Russia of “occupying” their territory.

Moscow welcomes the positive signals coming from Georgia after the power shift following the parliamentary elections in the former Soviet republic, Vladimir Putin said.

R.S