Putin rules out same-sex marriage in RussiaFebruary 14, 2020 - 18:43 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, February 14 stressed that marriage should be solely a heterosexual union, The Mail Online reports. "A marriage is a union of a man and woman," he said at a meeting with a Kremlin-appointed committee discussing new amendments to the Russian constitution. "This is the right idea and it should be supported. We need to only think about how to formulate it and where,' he said after conservative lawmaker Olga Batalina said Russia's constitution should uphold 'traditional family values." She claimed the family is under attack from attempts to introduce new terms like "parent number one" and "parent number two." "This is not fantasy, this is reality in some countries," said Batalina, a senior lawmaker in the majority United Russia party who has lobbied for Russia's ban on foreign adoptions and a "gay propaganda" law which de-facto outlawed LGBT activism. "As long as I'm president, we won't have (parent number one and parent number two). We will have 'dad' and 'mom'," Putin said. Putin in January announced that Russia needed changes to the constitution written in 1993 and appointed a committee of dozens of lawmakers and celebrities to come up with ideas. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Macron says France commemorates 109th anniv. of Armenian genocide Today France commemorates the 109th anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915, Macron says. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. |