NOVO-OGARYOVO, April 26 (RAPSI) - Russia may introduce amendments to adoption agreements with countries that have legalized same-sex marriage, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with MPs.

"We have to respond to what is happening around us. We have respect for our partners, but we ask them to have equal respect for our cultural traditions and ethical, legal and moral norms. I believe that we have the right to introduce amendments. We will consider this topical issue," Putin said.

In March, Children's rights commissioner Pavel Astakhov publicly expressed concern about Russian children adopted by same-sex couples. He promised to do his utmost to ensure that only traditional families are allowed to adopt Russian children.

Same-sex marriages are legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, and Denmark. The lower house of France's parliament, the National Assembly, passed a bill granting marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples on February 13 of this year.

As of 2011, the largest number of Russian children has been adopted by Spanish, French and Canadian nationals.

Lawmaker of the ruling United Russia party Yekaterina Lakhova proposed prohibiting LGBT couples from adopting Russian children and reviewing the Russian-French adoption agreement because France was considering granting marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples.

Lakhova initiated the Dima Yakovlev law, as of Jan. 1, which bans the adoption of Russian children by US citizens.