FILE - In this June 25, 2005, file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a diamond-encrusted 2005 Super Bowl ring belonging to New England Patriots NFL football team owner Robert Kraft during a meeting of American business executives at the 18th century Konstantin Palace outside St. Petersburg, Russia. When Putin arrived in London on Sunday, June 16, 2013, his spokesman was asked about a New York Post story quoting Kraft saying Putin pocketed his Super Bowl ring in 2005. Putin said he’s happy to buy New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft another ring, but it’s absurd to suggest he stole the Super Bowl one. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
June 21, 2013 - 7:53 AM
MOSCOW - Facing what he drolly called a "complicated international problem," Vladimir Putin says he's ready to give the New England Patriots' owner custom jewelry to compensate for the Super Bowl ring that some imply the Russian president pocketed.
The Super Bowl ring changed hands in 2005 when Robert Kraft was visiting Putin with a business delegation. At the time, he said he gave it as a gift, but last week he was quoted by the New York Post as saying Putin just took it.
Putin said at an economic forum on Friday that he didn't remember Kraft or the ring, but that "if it is so valuable to him," Putin would order a piece of jewelry of precious metal and stones be made for Kraft.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013