A current legal loophole allows same-sex marriages to be recognized by Russian authorities if the marriage was registered abroad. According to the Vedomosti daily newspaper, Putin has proposed draft amendments to Russia’s Family Code that forbid “immoral interpretations” of international treaties governing family affairs in order to close this loophole. A partner at a reputable law firm in Russia described the use of morality to determine what gets banned as legally “strange” to Vedomosti, yet this is wording is not at all surprising based on the government's past usage of rhetoric such as the preservation of "traditional values" when defending its actions. This wording also gives the government flexibility and power because morality is subjective, which means that any international ruling they claim to be immoral could be overruled in Russia.
