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RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's top judge ruled Tuesday that a 9-year-old boy must be returned to his U.S. father, the latest twist in a five-year custody battle that has frayed relations between the two countries.

The ruling by Supreme Court Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes was a much-sought-after victory for David Goldman, a New Jersey man who has pledged to fight for his son, Sean, as long as it takes.

Goldman said before the ruling that he was holding out hope of being reunited with his son in time to celebrate the holidays in the United States.

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's top judge ruled Tuesday that a 9-year-old boy must be returned to his U.S. father, the latest twist in a five-year custody battle that has frayed relations between the two countries.

The ruling by Supreme Court Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes was a much-sought-after victory for David Goldman, a New Jersey man who has pledged to fight for his son, Sean, as long as it takes.

Goldman said before the ruling that he was holding out hope of being reunited with his son in time to celebrate the holidays in the United States.

Mendes' Tuesday ruling lifts a stay on a federal court's order for Brazilian relatives to hand over the boy.

Sean was taken by Goldman's now-deceased ex-wife to her native Brazil in 2004, where he has remained. Goldman has been fighting to get him back from the boy's stepfather.

Lawyers on both sides say there is still a chance for the Brazilian family to appeal, though the chances of success seemed slight.

Earlier, Sergio Tostes, a lawyer for the Brazilian family, said the family would consider legal options to keep the boy in Brazil if Mendes lifts the stay.

"At the end of the line, if the final decision was to return the boy, we would. But we are far from the end of the line," he told NBC News by telephone before the decision.

Tostes previously told the AP he would like to see a negotiated settlement, saying he wanted to end the damage being done to Sean and to U.S.-Brazil relations.

But Goldman said that as the child's only surviving parent he wasn't interested in shared custody.

Diplomatic tussle
The case has affected diplomatic ties between Brazil and the U.S., reaching talks between President Barack Obama and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Democratic New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg has blocked the renewal of a $2.75 billion trade deal that would lift tariffs on some Brazilian exports.

The U.S. State Department pressed for the boy to be returned. But a Brazilian Supreme Court justice last week stayed a lower court decision ordering Sean to be turned over to his father.

Goldman and Brazil's attorney general both filed appeals asking the Supreme Court to overturn the justice's decision to block Sean's return while the court considers hearing direct testimony from the boy.