Speaking after a meeting with Susan Jacobs, the U.S. State Department’s special adviser on children’s issues, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Long Visalo said that after putting in place new child-protection measures, Cambodia would allow foreign adoptions starting in 2013.

Mr. Visalo also said that the U.S. would lift its own ban on adoptions from Cambodia at the same time.

“So we requested to start [adoptions again] on January 1, 2013, together. And America is going to start on the same day. We, too, start on the same day,” Mr. Visalo said.

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But Sean McIntosh, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, said on the American side that no date had yet been set for adoptions from Cambodia to resume, and that the U.S. would continue to monitor the situation to ensure Cambodia’s compliance with international law.

“We’re continuing to talk to the Cambodian government about this. There’s no confirmation of an agreed upon date to resume adoptions,” Mr. McIntosh said.

“We can’t confirm—that between the U.S. and Cambodia at least—adoptions will resume on January 1,” he added. “As far as we’re concerned, we want to make sure Cambodia’s compliant with The Hague Convention.”

Mr. Visalo could not be contacted to address the apparent contradiction.