La Russie met fin au programme d'échanges international avec les USA (Flex) par homophobie.

The Russian government announced today that it had pulled the plug on the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) programme, claiming that the US violated the terms of the arrangement by placing a child with gays.

Many students on the scheme choose not to return to Russia, but the country argues there were no legal grounds for the child to be placed with a gay couple.

Russia’s children’s ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said: “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.”

US ambassador to Russia John Tefft said: “We deeply regret this decision by the Russian government to end a program that for 21 years has built deep and strong connections between the people of Russia and the United States.”