Steven Seagal was granted Russian citizenship from Vladimir Putin back in 2016, and now the star of such action flicks as “Above the Law” and “Under Siege” is being pressed into service as a special envoy tasked with improving Russia-U.S. relations.
The Russian Embassy to the U.S. revealed the news via its official Facebook page, announcing that the Russian Foreign Ministry had appointed Seagal, 66, a “special representative for Russian-U.S. humanitarian ties,” the ministry said. “The task is to facilitate relations between Russia and the United States in the humanitarian field, including cooperation in culture, arts, public and youth exchanges, and so on.”
According to the ministry, Seagal’s role is described as being akin to when “people’s diplomacy meets halfway traditional diplomacy,” comparing the role as that of a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.
Seagal has been closely connected to Putin over the past few years, even attending the Russian president’s swearing-in ceremony after this year’s Russian election earlier this year.
Seagal has also been one of Putin’s biggest supporters, and defended the Russian leader against charges of U.S. election meddling during an interview with Piers Morgan on “Good Morning Britain” last year.
“For anyone to think that Vladimir Putin had anything to do with fixing the elections, or even that the Russians have that kind of technology, is stupid,” Seagal said at the time (U.S. intelligence agencies have since confirmed that Russia did indeed meddle in the 2016 presidential election).
“And this kind of propaganda is really a diversion … so that the people in the United States of America won’t really see what’s happening,” Seagal continued, praising Putin as “a great world leader” and “brilliant tactician.”
