Russia and the United States are likely to sign a child adoption agreement by the end of 2010, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

"The text of the Russian-U.S. agreement on cooperation in international adoptions, intended to provide solid guarantees of adopted children's rights, was agreed upon during the bilateral consultations in July," Andrei Nesterenko told journalists in Moscow.

He said a final round of consultations, after which the document will be ready for signing, is expected to take place before the end of the year.

Russia is one of the largest sources of adoptions for U.S. families, accounting for about 10 percent of foreign adoptions. The mistreatment of Russian children, adopted in the United States, has begun attracting public attention in recent months as a result of a number of highly publicized incidents.

In June, a 7-year-old boy who was placed alone on a one-way flight to Moscow by his U.S. adoptive mother with a note claiming he was "psychopathic."

Following the case, Russia threatened to prohibit child adoptions by U.S. citizens until the countries sign an intergovernmental agreement guaranteeing the rights of adoptive children.

MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti)