Putin's speaks at first news conference in third term During the live, televised event, Putin said he would consider a ban on Americans being able to adopt Russian children, after Russian authorities were prevented from observing cases in the US where abuse against these children was alleged: "The fact is, America has replaced one anti-Soviet, anti-Russian law - the Jackson-Vanick Amendment - with another, the Magnitsky Act. In regard to adoption of our children by foreigners - as far as I know, the vast majority of Russians see the very fact of adoption of our children by foreigners as a negative thing. Putin went on to discuss the situation in Syria. They appeared to be his first direct comments on the possibility of a post-Assad government: "What is our position? ..first people agree on how they live from now on, how they provide their own security and their participation in power sharing, and only then start to change, according to those agreements, the existing status quo. And not vice versa. Putin also answered questions about relations with Georgia. He said there were positive signals with the new coalition government in the country, however he also stressed that Russia would not revoke its recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as indepenendent states. More about: Russian politics, USA, Vladimir Putin