Royal Academy of Arts

Russian authorities have halted a major London exhibition of French and Russian art over claims Britain has failed to guarantee the paintings' return.

Russia's culture agency said the show could not go ahead unless the British government took further steps to ensure legal protection for the paintings. British Culture Secretary James Purnell told BBC Radio 4 he would push through legislation offering better guarantees.

The exhibition had been due to open at the Royal Academy of Arts in January. Some of the art of the From Russia: French and Russian Master Paintings exhibition had been taken from private collections after the 1917 revolution.

It is thought some of the 120 works of art - which include paintings by Matisse and Van Gogh and other renowned Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works - could be seized to settle private legal claims related to the paintings.

Purnell said he had assured Russia in a letter earlier this month that the artworks were protected under the State Immunity Act of 1978. But Russia's Federal Culture and Cinematography Agency, Roskultura, said it had not