The U.S. ambassador to Moscow on Friday formally returned to Russia 21 historical documents that were recovered by U.S. law enforcement after being smuggled from Russia to the United States.
The documents, which were stolen from Russian national archives in Moscow and St. Petersburg between 1994 and 2002, include two decrees signed by Catherine the Great and a decree and an award signed by the last tsar, Nicholas II.
Hosting the ceremony at his Spaso House residence in Moscow, Ambassador John Beyrle told Russian and U.S. officials that the return of the documents marked the end of a detective story on two continents.
"Today we celebrate a success in the battle against the theft and smuggling of cultural and historical artifacts, and a success in our effort to build a closer and more productive relationship between Russia and the United States," the ambassador said.
Russian Deputy Culture Minister Andrei Gagarin said it was right that the priceless documents should return home. He said the event was a result of improved ties between Russia and the United States fostered by Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama.
"This is evidence that the reset in Russian-U.S. relations is working," Gagarin said.
Russian officials say 2,500 documents were stolen by Ze'ev Feinman, a Russian antiquarian who now has Israeli citizenship.
Representatives of the Russian State Archive said at the ceremony that the bulk of the documents were stolen from the Russian State Historical Archive, and some from military archives. More than 500 papers have already been returned to Russia.
MOSCOW, February 25 (RIA Novosti)
