Steven Seagal has been appointed as a “special representative” to improve relations between Russians and Americans, Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced this weekend.
According to a CNN translation of the ministry’s announcement, Seagal has been hired to “promote the further development of Russian-American relations in the humanitarian sphere, including interaction in the field of culture, art, public and youth exchanges and more.”
Seagal, whose mother was born in Vladivostok and who became a Russian citizen in 2016, is reportedly a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a 2013 interview with Russian international television network RT, Seagal said he considered Putin to be “one of the greatest world leaders, if not the greatest world leader, alive today.” He has also praised Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and has been banned from entering Ukraine for five years with the government there labeling him a security threat.
The Los Angeles Police Department is currently investigating Seagal for a sexual assault case from 2005. Several women in Hollywood, including Jenny McCarthy and former James Bond actress Rachel Grant, have accused Seagal of sexual offenses, all of which the actor has denied.