The New York Observer reports that a Federal Judge has tried to clarify the situation that has lead to an embargo of all cultural exchanges from Russia because of claims by the Hasidic Lubavitcher sect of Brooklyn.

In a decision issued Tuesday, the federal District Court in Washington, D.C. acknowledged that Russia’s fear that its art might be seized by Chabad, the Brooklyn-based Jewish Orthodox sect, is legitimate. The embargo, thus, is not without rationale. […] The Court stated it “is unwilling to conclude that Russia’s concerns about the safety of its own cultural objects is entirely unfounded, given prior – albeit unsuccessful – attempts to attach such objects in at least one other case.”

The Observer suggests that the judge is attempting to pave the way for the resumption of art loans from Russia to the US but does not make clear how this week’s decision would reassure Russian museums.

Court Calls Russia’s Fear of Chabad Art Seizure Legitimate (Observer)