Thread: Russia, Putin and the Ring: Властелин Колец

I did read about it. The very situation looks somewhat insane. If at the official meeting you pass something valuable to another party it normally means an official gift. The practice of official gifts is a part of international diplomacy tradition. AFAIK there is a giant and thoroughly documented depository of gift items in Kremlin (of accepted gifts as well as of valuables specifically crafted or selected for future gifting). Any official that makes any kind of international negotiation is obliged to transfer accepted gifts there, because it is a property of the state rather than a personal gift.

If that billionaire guy enjoy dealing with high rank diplomatic officials he should know very well about those mechanisms. And if he in several yeard starts making broadcast claimings about stealing... Well, I believe he risks to be silently banned from diplomatic events worldwide.

On the other hand how did it happen that Putin "doesn't remember" about that ring? It should be mentioned in the protocol, listed in the inventory and kept in the depository. Or... did he in fact steal that ring from Russian Federation?

Originally Posted by it-ogo

On the other hand how did it happen that Putin "doesn't remember" about that ring? It should be mentioned in the protocol, listed in the inventory and kept in the depository. Or... did he in fact steal that ring from Russian Federation?

Probably it was a really insignificant event for him, and he forgot it!

(I honestly don't believe that he joked about being able to kill somebody with the ring... that seems like the fantasy of an American who watched too many spy films with "evil Russians"). If Putin DID joke like that, it was a silly joke!

I guess he could have passed it to a bodyguard, or some admin person, or it was just left somewhere and somebody ELSE in his entourage picked it up and stole it.

I suppose it's possible that it was discovered later that the ring genuinely had disappeared, and rather than have an embarassing scene the Russian delegation brushed it under the carpet. Either way it seems really unlikely that Putin was involved at all.

It's the kind of totally ludicrous thing that gets thrown at Russia though. Because nowadays it's quite hard to find genuine faults to point at in Russia, that the USA or Europe aren't equally guilty of!

Like recently this gay thing!
The same Europeans who happily go on shopping trips to the Arab Emirates where it's illegal to even BE gay... now can't even drink vodka because Russia banned gay parades. They are also so poorly informed about the question that they assume it's the leadership imposing the laws instead of realising that it is in fact the majority of the public that support the no-Pride legislation.