Action movie star Seagal is Russian envoy to the U.S.
MOSCOW » — Russia has appointed action movie star Steven Seagal as a special envoy for humanitarian ties with the United States.
The Foreign Ministry announced the move Saturday on its Facebook page, saying Seagal’s portfolio in the unpaid position would be to “facilitate relations between Russia and the United States in the humanitarian field, including cooperation in culture, arts, public and youth exchanges.”
Seagal is an accomplished martial artist — like Russian President Vladimir Putin. The actor, whose grandmother was born in Vladivostok, was granted Russian citizenship in 2016.
He has vocally defended the Russian leader’s policies, including Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, and has criticized the U.S. government.
Last year, Ukraine banned Seagal from entering the country for five years, citing national security reasons.
In 2015, BuzzFeed News reported that two years earlier, Putin had suggested to President Barack Obama that he could make Seagal the honorary Russian consul to California and Arizona.
“Our reaction was, ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ ” a U.S. official told BuzzFeed, referring to the offer.
Russia isn’t the only country offering overtures to Seagal.
In 2016, Serbian state media reported that the government had offered Seagal citizenship for offering to open a martial arts academy in Belgrade.
Seagal does seem particularly interested in the former Soviet Union.
He’s also visited with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
And in a 2013 interview with Russian TV network RT, Seagal said he believes Putin “is one of the greatest world leaders, if not the greatest world leader, alive today.”