James Hill for The New York Times
Journalists attended a news conference held by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Moscow on Thursday.
MOSCOW — He seemed to wince a bit as he sauntered on stage — a twinge no doubt from a lingering back injury — but as he took his seat before scores of cameras in a hall packed with more than 1,000 journalists on Thursday, President Vladimir V. Putin was clearly in his element: under the bright lights, jaunty and confident, arriving to theme music befitting an action hero.
But this virtuoso performance was nearly upstaged by an issue that emerged only in the last few days: a proposed ban on adoptions of Russian children by American citizens, as part of a measure retaliating against the United States for a new law that will punish Russian citizens accused of violating human rights. Mr. Putin was pressed repeatedly for his view — eight times in all — and each time he skirted the question.
When it first came up, he gave an exaggerated shrug, palms turned upward, as if to say, “Bring it on.” By the last one, he was snapping back, short of patience, visibly annoyed.
Over and over, Mr. Putin said he needed time to read the text of the legislation before making a decision. But the text of the ban is just two simple sentences, and it was clear that Mr. Putin was buying time to contemplate what would be the most potent, anti-American action yet in his new term. This year, there have already been several setbacks in bilateral relations, including his ousting of the United States Agency for International Development.
“The talk here is not about the ban on adoption to all foreigners. The talk is about Americans who want to adopt children,” he said, adding, “I am simply not ready to answer you now.”
In other respects, this was the cocksure Mr. Putin of 10 years ago. As his mostly adoring audience settled in, Mr. Putin, who has seemed subdued at times since beginning a third term as president in May, appeared eager to joust. And he did — for four and a half hours — on virtually any subject: crop subsidies for sugar beet farmers and housing for miners, political relations with Georgia, economic ties with China, fishing restrictions in the Volga River delta.
After months of aggressive steps to squash political dissent and curtail what he views as undue political influence by outsiders, he seemed to relish every chance to take jabs at the United States, especially over its policies in the Middle East and on human rights.
He fielded dozens of questions, on topics like a continuing national debate over adopting daylight saving time, taxes, pensions and Russia’s position on the war in Syria. After each reply, journalists clamored for a chance to ask a question, waving signs and flags, scarves, even a red balloon to get noticed.
At one point, discussing the French actor Gérard Depardieu’s decision to renounce his French citizenship, Mr. Putin warmly invited him to live in Russia. “If Gérard really wants to have a residency permit for Russia or a Russian passport,” Mr. Putin said, “we can consider this issue resolved.”
Throughout the day, Mr. Putin basked in the fawning adulation of journalists visiting the capital from virtually every provincial corner of Russia. Near the end of the news conference, he paused to write a personal note extending birthday wishes to a reporter’s daughter.
But in a series of unusually sharp challenges, he was repeatedly forced back to the issue of the proposed adoption ban and pressed to say if he would support it.
Mr. Putin repeatedly criticized the new American law — the Magnitsky Act — as a provocation, and said Russia had no choice but to retaliate. “This is very bad and it poisons our relations,” he said.
Mr. Putin said the United States was failing to live up to an agreement ratified earlier this year, by not allowing Russian officials to get involved in abuse cases involving adopted Russian children, even as observers. And he lashed out at one reporter who challenged him.
“This is unacceptable,” he said. “Do you find it normal? Do you like it? Are you a sadomasochist?” At other times, Mr. Putin acknowledged that most adoptive parents from America are “kind and decent people.”
At several points, he said legal experts would have to review the proposed ban to see if it could be enacted given the agreement with the United States on adoptions. He also repeatedly rejected assertions that the ban would most hurt Russian orphans because he said it would apply only to the United States.
According to the Russian government, there were 956 Russian children adopted by families from the United States in 2011 — the most of any country. Italy was next with 798 followed by Spain with 685.
Mr. Putin did not cite those statistics, but he began his news conference rattling off an array of others to illustrate Russia’s recent successes. Economic output is growing stronger than in the United States or Europe, he said. Unemployment is lower. Average salaries are up. Reserve funds are flush. The birthrate is climbing.
One reporter asked him about the jailed former billionaire, Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, whose imprisonment has been condemned as politically motivated. A court on Thursday reduced Mr. Khodorkovsky’s sentence so he may be released two years early, in 2014. Mr. Putin said the issue should not be politicized. Then, archly, he noted that at some point Mr. Khodorkovsky would be free. “May God give him health,” he said.
Putin Evasive on Banning Adoptions by Americans
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Putin Evasive on Banning Adoptions by Americans
