YEKATERINBURG, June 4 (RAPSI) - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that he would sign a law banning adoptions by same-sex couples if parliament backed the initiative.

Alexei Levchenko, an aide to Deputy Prime Minister for Social Issues Olga Golodets, said earlier that a ban on foreign same-sex couples adopting Russian children will be added to Russian legislation. The ban will only apply to foreigners, he stressed, so as not to restrict the rights of single people in Russia.

Children's Rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov proposed last week introducing a moratorium on the adoption of Russian children by French couples after that country legalized adoptions by gay couples.

President Francois Hollande, who promised to legalize same-sex marriage during his election campaign, signed legislation to this effect on May 18. The law also allows these couples to adopt children. The first official same-sex wedding in France took place in the city of Montpellier on May 29.

Astakhov said Russian lawmakers should amend the Russian-French adoption agreement to take this new element of French legislation into account. He also said that the Education and Science Ministry should impose a moratorium on French adoptions until this issue is resolved at the legislative level.