Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer acting on behalf of Irina Belenkaya, who was arrested on April 12 while attempting to illegally cross the Hungarian border into Ukraine with her daughter Elise, said Friday he had reached a mutual custody agreement with Belenkaya's 51-year-old husband Jean-Michel Andre.
"I do not think the decision is acceptable. I don't think that it will be good for Elise to spend half the year in one country and half in another," Belenkaya announced.
Although the details of the agreement have not been released, Kucherena said following the meeting in Avignon, France, that legal proceedings "should all be aimed at allowing both Andre and Belenkaya to communicate with the child, and bring her up," adding "This is the most important issue and today we have come to an agreement."
Belenakaya is in custody in Hungary awaiting extradition to France for kidnapping her daughter and organizing an attack on her ex-husband last month.
The couple has been embroiled in a bitter custody battle resulting in Elise being "kidnapped" back and forth three times in the past two years. Andre was awarded custody by a French court after their divorce in 2007.
Elise is currently with her father in France.
