Did Vladimir Putin STEAL New England Patriots owner's $25,000 Super Bowl ring?

• Robert Kraft claims that Russian leader simply pocketed his Super Bowl ring when he showed it to him back in 2005
• The White House advised him that it would be in the best interests of relations between the two countries if he said it was a gift
• 'I can kill someone with this ring,' Putin joked, claims Kraft
• The ring is reportedly kept in the Kremlin library

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin stole his Super Bowl XXXIX ring in 2005, but that he was asked by American government officials to say it was a gift to save international embarrassment.
Kraft spoke about the incident on Thursday night in front of a packed crowd at Carnegie Hall’s Medal of Excellence gala at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.
‘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 told the crowd.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has claimed that Vladimir Putin took his Super Bowl ring and that the White House told him to say it was a gift

‘I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out.’
The incident occurred in 2005, the summer after the Patriots had won their third Super Bowl under his Kraft's ownership.
 

He was one of a number of prominent American businessmen who visited Russia to meet with Putin. 
At the time, Kraft released a public statement saying the diamond-encrusted ring - worth more than  $25,000 - had been a gift.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, left , while holding Kraft's diamond-encrusted 2005 Super Bowl ring, as News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, center, looks on during the 2005 meeting

'President Putin, a great and knowledgeable sports fan, was clearly taken with its uniqueness. I decided to give him the ring as a symbol of the respect and admiration that I have for the Russian people and [his] leadership,' read Kraft's statement at the time.
But now Kraft has claimed that Putin simply pocketed the 4.94-carat ring and that the White House intervened when he demanded it back, reports the New York Post.
According to Kraft he received a call from the George W. Bush-run White House, saying, 'It would really be in the best interest of US-Soviet relations if you meant to give the ring as a present.'
But, Kraft said, 'I really didn’t [want to]. I had an emotional tie to the ring, it has my name on it. I don’t want to see it on eBay. There was a pause on the other end of the line, and the voice repeated, "It would really be in the best interest if you meant to give the ring as a present.’”
The ring is reportedly kept in the Kremlin library.

Kraft shows off one of his other Super Bowl rings at Thursday night's event