Russia has blocked Sweden from borrowing Marc Chagall paintings for an upcoming exhibition of the artist's work, the Millesgarden Museum in Stockholm said Thursday, following a diplomatic dispute between the two countries.

Museum curator Onita Wass told AFP that the museum has been forced to cancel the exhibition of 48 works by French-Russian artist Chagall and several of his contemporaries. 

"We worked in cooperation with the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg to put together an exhibition on Marc Chagall and the Russia of his time, but the culture ministry didn't permit us to borrow the works... forcing us to cancel the exhibition," said Wass.