Putin: Gift could counter Super Bowl ring flap

[June 22, 2013]  MOSCOW (AP) -- 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 Friday he didn't remember Kraft or the ring. But "if it is so valuable to him," Putin would order a piece of jewelry of precious metal and stones be made for Kraft.

[Associated Press]

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