Putin to sign bill banning adoption of Russian children by Americans

President Vladimir Putin signaled yesterday that he would sign into law a bill barring Americans from adopting Russian children even as he sought to avert criticism of the move by promising measures to better care of his country's orphans.

In a bid to appeal to people's patriotism, Putin suggested that strong and responsible countries should take care of their own children and lent his support to a bill that has further strained US-Russia relations.

"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?" he said, with sarcasm.

The Russian parliament granted final approval on Wednesday to the bill, which is aimed at introducing other measures in retaliation for new US legislation, which was aimed to punish Russians accused of human rights violations. The bill would need to be signed by Putin before it became law.

"So far I see no reason not to sign it, although I have to review the final text and weigh everything," Putin said.

Putin's remarks came at a meeting of federal and regional officials that was shown live on the state's 24-hour news channel.