A delegation of U.S. State Department officials will pay a visit to Moscow for talks on child adoption rules with representatives of the Russian government, the U.S. embassy in Russia said on Monday.

The issue has become controversial in Russia in recent years, following numerous incidents in the U.S. involving adopted children from Russia. In the latest case, a U.S. couple sent their 7-year-old adopted son back to Russia claiming he was "psychopathic."

"We would like to discuss an opportunity to conclude an accord or a bilateral agreement, which would allow us to secure better care for Russian children adopted by U.S. families," the U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Beyrle, was quoted as saying in a Russian-language statement.

The make-up of the delegation and the exact date of the visit were not disclosed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last Friday that Russia could freeze child adoptions by U.S. citizens until the countries sign an intergovernmental agreement on adoptions following the Artyom Savelyev case.

Savelyev, adopted in September and renamed Justin, flew in to Moscow on April 8 alone after being accompanied to the plane in the United States by his adoptive grandmother. He brought a note in which his adoptive mother said she would not take care of him any longer because he is "mentally unstable."

The activities of the U.S. adoption agency World Association for Children and Parents (WACAP) that assisted in the U.S. couple's adoption of Savelyev have been suspended in Russia.

MOSCOW, April 12 (RIA Novosti)