MOSCOW. May 16 (Interfax) - The decision to hand over Andrei Rublev's Trinity icon to the Russian Orthodox Church has been coordinated with the necessary people, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
"Such decisions are not made without coordination with those with whom it is necessary to coordinate," Peskov told reporters on Tuesday when asked whether the president consulted with the cultural community on the transfer of the icon.
He noted that the decision was mainly linked to "humanitarian considerations."
"This concerns a large number of believers in our country, for whom the icon is a great shrine, whose keeping in the museum's collections does not quite meet the aspirations of our believers," Peskov said.
He was asked whether the possibility of handing other relics over to the Russian Orthodox Church was being considered.
"I am not aware of that," he said.