(AFP/MSN) Russia has pulled out of a long-running US-funded student exchange programme, accusing the organisers of letting a teenager stay behind in the United States in the care of a gay couple.
Moscow's decision to pull the plug on the largest Russia-US high school exchange programme comes amid a showdown with the United States over Ukraine which has also seen President Vladimir Putin try to curb the spread of Western values.
"A child, who has a mother in Russia, has illegally been placed under guardianship, and the boy has been handed over to a US gay couple," Russia's children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said on Wednesday.
He said the teenager had "stayed behind in the United States." […]
See the full article ("Russia scraps US exchange scheme, says teen put in gay couple's care") © AFP/MSN
