Last US-Russia adoptions cleared

Russian children whose adoptions have already been approved by a court will be able to join their new families in the United States, the Kremlin says.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Those who have received a court decision will go. Those who do not have a decision will not go."

The ban was signed for 1 January in response to a US decision to blacklist Russian officials accused of abuses.

But it has been complicated by a bilateral agreement on adoption.

Mr Peskov said on Thursday that the agreement between Russia and the US on adoption regulations "remains in effect" and, under its terms, must do so until January 2014.

Russian officials said at least 52 cases were being processed when the ban was signed in late December. A handful of those are believed to have been given court approval.

The US state department, however, says it believes as many as 1,000 US families are in the various stages of trying to adopt children from Russia.

Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said earlier in the week that they were working with the Russian government on the issue and were "very hopeful" that they can complete the cases that had begun before the law was passed.