In a televised conference, Russia's President, Vladimir Putin announced that he will sign the proposed legislation that would ban Americans from adopting Russian children.
"So far I see no reason not to sign it, although I have to review the final text and weigh everything," Putin said, according to Reuters.
The new legislation is said to be in retaliation to a recent U.S. sanction on Russia. The U.S. Magnitsky Act was enacted early December. According to Antiwar, the sanction enables "seizing the assets of Russian officials and banning them access to the US if they were involved in the detention and eventual death of millionaire investor Sergei Magnitsky has prompted a retaliatory bill from the Russian government."
Political analysts say the new Russian legislation only adds further animosity to an already tenses relationship between the two nations. This animosity can be seen in Putin's comments in a news conference on Thursday.
"There are probably many places in the world where living standards are higher than ours. So what, are we going to send all our children there? Maybe we should move there ourselves?" said President Putin as reported by Reuters.
According to Russian lawmakers, the law came into conception after the death of Dima Yakovlev, after whom the bill is named. Yakovlev is one of the 19 children who reportedly died due to the abuse of U.S. adopted parents.
The new legislative piece has evoked strong criticism from the United States as well as Russian activists who say that the bill is a tremendous injustice to country's numerous orphaned children. According to UNICEF, Russia currently has 740,000 who are orphaned or without any parental guardianship.
"Since 1992 American families have welcomed more than 60,000 Russian children into their homes, and it is misguided to link the fate of children to unrelated political considerations," U.S. State Department Spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, told Reuters.
President Putin is expected to sign the bill some time this week.
RELATED ARTICLES:
Russia Legalizes Anti- U.S. Adoption Bill, President Vladimir Putin Signs Ban on Americans Adopting Children from the Country?
