Russia and the United States have agreed on the text of a deal on child adoptions that has been under discussion since April, the Russian Education and Science Ministry said Friday.
A Russian-American working group held the fourth round of talks on the issue in Moscow on July 21-23.
"During thorough work on the document, we reached an agreement on its text," the ministry said. "Now the draft will be submitted to each country for interdepartmental consideration."
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 back to Moscow with a note from his U.S. adoptive mother, who claimed he was "psychopathic."
MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti)
