Russia Halts Student Exchange With U.S.

Russia announced that it has canceled a major high-school student-exchange program with the United States, citing the failure of one of its students to return home. The U.S. embassy in Moscow regretted the decision, in a statement from Ambassador John F. Tefft, who said the Future Leaders Exchange, or FLEX, has brought more than 8,000 Russsian high-school students to the U.S. to live with American families and attend high school. The program had been going on for 21 years. Moscow’s decision comes amid worsening relations between Washington and the Kremlin over Ukraine.