Story highlights The story is just a humorous anecdote, a Kraft spokesman says

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he got the ring as a gift

It belonged to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft

Putin was handed the ring during Kraft's visit to St. Petersburg in 2005

Russia's president is fighting back: No, he did not steal a Super Bowl ring. And no, he's not rocking the diamond-encrusted prize on his finger, either.

President Vladimir Putin 's spokesman denied that the leader kept a Super Bowl ring that New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft wanted back.

Both sides agree that the ring, with its 124 diamonds, changed hands during Kraft's visit to St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2005.

The New York Post reported on remarks made by Kraft, 72, at a New York awards gala Thursday.

"I took out the ring and showed it to (Putin). And he put it on and he goes, 'I can kill someone with this ring,'" Kraft said, according to the New York Post . "I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out."

In the quotes used by the Post, Kraft did not specifically say that Putin stole the ring; the paper characterized his remarks that way in the headline and story. Kraft did say, however, that he had wanted the ring back. "I had an emotional tie to the ring. It has my name on it."

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Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, says his ring was taken in 2005.

Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin is a popular but polarizing figure who has dominated Russian politics for more than a decade. Click through to see images of his life and career. Hide Caption 1 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin, bottom, wrestles with a classmate in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1971. Hide Caption 2 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin poses with his parents, Vladimir and Maria, in 1985. Hide Caption 3 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin From 1991 to 1994, Putin served as the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the City Council in St. Petersburg. Before becoming involved in politics, he served in the KGB, a Soviet-era spy agency, as an intelligence officer. Hide Caption 4 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Russian President Boris Yeltsin, right, shakes hands with Putin during a farewell ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow in December 1999. Putin rose quickly through the political ranks, becoming the second democratically elected president of the Russian Federation in 2000. Hide Caption 5 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin President-elect Putin watches the tactical exercises of Russia's Northern Fleet in the Barentsevo Sea in April 2000. Hide Caption 6 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin takes the presidential oath next to Yeltsin in May 2000. Hide Caption 7 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin dances with a young girl in Kazan, Russia, while taking part in mid-summer festivities in June 2000. Hide Caption 8 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin and U.S. President Bill Clinton talk in Moscow in June 2000. Hide Caption 9 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin meets Pope John Paul II in Rome in June 2000. Hide Caption 10 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin speaks to his wife, Lyudmila, as they pose in front of the Taj Mahal in India in October 2000. Hide Caption 11 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin shakes hands with famous Russian gymnasts Alina Kabayeva, center, and Svetlana Khorkina in March 2004. Hide Caption 12 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin attends an inauguration ceremony for President-elect Dmitry Medvedev in May 2008. Putin was constitutionally obliged to stand down as President, but he stayed close to power, becoming Prime Minister. Hide Caption 13 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin This image, supplied by Time magazine, shows Putin on the cover after being named the magazine's 2007 "Person of the Year." Hide Caption 14 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin skis in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia, in February 2008. Hide Caption 15 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin shakes hands with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in November 2008. Hide Caption 16 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin vacations outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia in 2009. Over the years he has earned a reputation as a "strongman," declaring a crackdown on Chechen militants a priority in his first presidential term. Hide Caption 17 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin U.S. President Barack Obama meets Putin at his home in Novo Ogaryovo, near Moscow, in July 2009. Putin said Russia was pinning its hopes on Obama to revive ties with the United States. Hide Caption 18 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Medvedev and Putin ski together in Krasnaya Polyana in January 2010. Hide Caption 19 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin takes part in a judo training session at a sports complex in St. Petersburg in December 2010. Putin holds a black belt in judo. Hide Caption 20 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin In April 2011, Putin attends the first Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Noncommunicable Disease Control. The event was held in Moscow. Hide Caption 21 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin receives a medical consultation in August 2011 during a visit to the Smolensk Regional Hospital in Russia. Putin said he hurt his shoulder during morning judo practice. Hide Caption 22 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin speaks to supporters at a Moscow rally in February 2012. He won the presidential election one month later with just under 65% of the vote. Former President Medvedev became his Prime Minister. Hide Caption 23 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin During a massive rally of his supporters in Moscow, tears run down Putin's face in March 2012 after he was elected President for a third term. Hide Caption 24 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin A topless protester shouts at Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to the Hanover Industrial Fair in central Germany in April 2013. Human rights groups say civil liberties and democratic freedoms have suffered during Putin's rule. Hide Caption 25 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin addresses the media during his visit to Hanover. Hide Caption 26 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin and his wife, Lyudmila -- seen here in 2012 -- announced the end of their marriage in June 2013. Hide Caption 27 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin poses for a photo with Russian Olympic athletes in Sochi, Russia, in February 2014. Russia hosted the Winter Olympic Games and won the most medals. Hide Caption 28 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin From left, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, Putin and Medvedev look at their watches before the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in February 2014. Hide Caption 29 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin, center, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, arrive to watch a March 2014 military exercise at the Kirillovsky firing ground in Russia's Leningrad region. Hide Caption 30 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin, left, controls the puck during an ice hockey game between Russian amateur players and ice hockey stars at a festival in Sochi in May 2014. Hide Caption 31 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin takes part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside Moscow's Kremlin Wall in June. Hide Caption 32 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin speaks with Obama in November, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing. Hide Caption 33 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin puts a shawl on Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, as they arrive to watch a fireworks show in Beijing in November. Hide Caption 34 of 35 Photos: Russian President Vladimir Putin Several world leaders gather in Minsk, Belarus, in February to negotiate a ceasefire to the fighting in Ukraine. Putin is second from left, next to Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko on the far left. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is on the far right. At center, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures in front of French President Francois Hollande. Fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels in the country has left more than 6,000 people dead since mid-April, according to the United Nations. Hide Caption 35 of 35

The Patriots' owner said he then received a call from the White House at the time telling him it would be in the best interest of U.S.-Russian relations to claim it was a gift to Putin, the Post reported. Kraft said Thursday he played along.

A few days after the 2005 incident, amid confusion as to whether the ring was a present or was kept by mistake, Kraft issued a statement saying it was a gift.

That's the way Putin sees it, the president's spokesman said Sunday.

"What Mr. Kraft is saying now is weird," Dmitry Peskov said. "I was standing 20 centimeters away from him and Mr. Putin and saw and heard how Mr. Kraft gave this ring as a gift."

The 4.94-carat ring is in the Kremlin's library, where all official state gifts are kept, he said. It is worth more than $25,000, according to multiple reports from 2005.

A Kraft spokesman said Sunday the story is a humorous anecdote that Kraft "retells for laughs."

"He loves that the ring is at the Kremlin and, as he stated back in 2005, he continues to have great respect for Russia and the leadership of President Putin," said Stacey James, a spokesman for The Kraft Group.

"An added benefit from the attention this story gathered eight years ago was the creation of some Patriots fan clubs in Russia," he said.

There is some solace for Kraft, as he also received rings for the Patriots' Super Bowl victories in the 2001 and 2003 seasons.

Super Bowl rings can fetch much more when they are auctioned, depending on who wore them. The 1991 Super Bowl ring of Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor sold last year at auction for more than $230,000. There were rumors Charlie Sheen bought the ring, but the actor denied it.

At least one ring has been used to raise money for charity. In 2008, former Patriots defensive player Je'Rod Cherry raffled off one of his three rings to raise $150,000 for several children's charities.