Russian reacts to killing of adopted boy

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MOSCOW, June 21 (UPI) -- The killing of an adopted Russian boy in the United States emphasizes the need for a new adoption agreement between the two countries, a Russian official says.

A Louisiana high-school student has been arrested in the stabbing death of 8-year-old Kirill Kazakov, whose body was found in a Francisville, La., park after a bicycle ride with his adoptive parents and twin brother, The Moscow Times reported Monday.

The boy's death was reported just as final negotiations were taking place on the agreement, demanded by Russia after a U.S. mother put her 7-year-old adopted Russian son on a plane back to Moscow alone in April, the newspaper said.

"Against the backdrop of the recent tragic incidents involving Russian children adopted in the U.S., (Kazakov's death) only adds determination in getting the Americans to restore order to adoptions," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said, "primarily through the soonest possible conclusion of an appropriate bilateral agreement."

U.S. families have adopted more than 14,000 Russian children in the past five years, including 1,500 in 2009.

A final round of talks on the agreement is scheduled for September, and a treaty might be ratified by the end of the year, the Moscow Times reported.