No new, final adoptions under ban, Russia says

— The Kremlin press secretary said Thursday that Russian children whose adoptions had already been approved by a court would be allowed to join their adoptive families in the United States and would not be affected by a ban on such adoptions that President Vladimir Putin signed into law last month.

But the official, Dmitry Peskov, said the ban meant that there would be no new adoptions and that adoptions that had not been approved in court would be halted.

“It is a ban on any new procedures, any new formalities,” he said. “Those who have got a decision will be able to leave.”

Peskov added: “There are some children who were in the process, but whose formalities were not completed. Those children will stay here.”

Russian officials have said there are 46 children whose adoptions by U.S. families have been partially processed, but that not all of them have court orders.

For Americans, adopting from Russia is an expensive and lengthy process, often costing upward of $50,000 and requiring multiple trips to Russia. The court decree comes late in the process, after parents have been matched with a child and orphanage workers have begun preparing the child to join a new family. After court approval, there is a 30-day waiting period, and only then can parents return and make final arrangements to take the child to the United States.

The adoption ban was passed by Russia’s Parliament in retaliation for a U.S. law aimed at punishing Russian officials accused of human-rights abuses, and it left many legal questions unanswered. Official statements in Russia have been contradictory, and many U.S. families have been in limbo, uncertain whether their adoptions will go through.

Peskov said Thursday that a bilateral Russian-American agreement regulating adoption by U.S. families that was ratified last year would remain in force until 2014, leading some to conclude that the Kremlin had slightly softened its stance on the ban. But in an interview, Peskov denied that, saying, “there is no need for any softening.”

The bilateral agreement holds that it is valid for a year after one party terminates it. A deputy prime minister warned Putin in a letter that Russia risked violating the agreement by passing the adoption ban.

A prominent Russian defense lawyer, Genri Reznik, told the radio station Ekho Moskvy that adoptions could continue because the Russian constitution says international treaties take precedence over Russian laws if they contradict each other.

Peskov’s announcement, Reznik said, means that “the whole procedure of adoptions of Russian children by American citizens will continue to be applied for another year.”

But Peskov said Thursday that this was not the case.

“There is no direct link between the agreement that is in force and the ban on adoption,” he said. “The agreement is not something that makes adoption obligatory. It regulates the practice.”

Victoria Nuland, a spokesman for the State Department, said Washington hoped to complete all the adoptions that had been initiated before the law was passed. She has said 500 to 1,000 families have been affected.

“We are very hopeful that in the spirit of the original agreement and out of humanitarian concern we will be able to work through those cases that had been begun,” she said Thursday.

The ban has proved deeply divisive in Russia: 130,000 people have signed a petition to reverse it, enough to require review by lawmakers. A protest march aimed at legislators and called the March Against Scoundrels is planned for Sunday.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 01/11/2013

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