Russell Brand returned stateside last night, arriving at LAX where he was greeted by a slew of his closest friends ... the paparazzi.

Brand has been in London ever since filing for divorce from Katy Perry. She resurfaced for the first time Thursday, posing with a fan in Santa Barbara on the set of an Adidas commercial.

As for Russell ... the paps threw a few divorce questions at him as he made his way to his car ... and got nothing but silence.