Russia and the United States need to sign a bilateral agreement on guaranteeing protection for adopted children, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

According to information published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Sunday, the talk was held on Saturday on the initiative of the U.S. side.

"The conversation touched upon the issues related to the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens. On our part, we stressed the need to sign as quickly as possible a bilateral binding agreement to protect the rights, life and health of adopted children and guarantee that the recent incidents never repeat again," the statement said.

The statement follows the latest adoption incident when a U.S. adoptive mother sent Artyom, 8, on a one-way flight back to Russia just six months after adoption, claiming he was "psychopathic."

Russia is one of the largest sources of adoptions to the United States, but the issue has become controversial in Russia in recent years, following numerous incidents involving the mistreatment of Russian adopted children in the United States.

In an interview with ABC, President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia was "alarmed" by this tendency and could "totally refrain from the practice of adopting Russian children by American adoptive parents" unless the agreement was signed.

MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti)