Entertainment
Seagal said he was 'honoured' to meet
Russian leader at the Kremlin ceremony.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted
US actor Steven Seagal a Russian passport in a
bid to further improve the fractious relations
between the two superpowers, softened by the
election of Donald Trump.
The pair met face-to-face at a special
ceremony at the Kremlin, where the 90s
Hollywood action hero signed a passport
handed to him by the Russian leader.
Upon confirming the newly bestowed
citizenship with a handshake, Putin stated: "I
want to congratulate you and express the hope
that this is another, albeit small, gesture and it
might be a sign of the gradual normalisation of
relations between our countries."
Putin, a martial arts fan, signed an order earlier
this month to begin the process of granting
Seagal citizenship. The actor, 64, has been a
regular visitor to Russia for over a decade.
The move comes amid the most strained
period of relations between the two
superpowers since the end of the Cold War in
1991, with Moscow and Russia backing
opposing forces in conflicts throughout Syria
and Ukraine over the past two years.
There has also been evidence that Russian
hackers helped leak a trove of confidential
emails belonging to Hillary Clinton and the
Democratic National Committee during the US
general election – a move encouraged by
President-elect Donald Trump.
Seagal, perhaps best known for 1992's Under
Siege, remains a popular figure amongst
Russian audiences despite often playing the
American war hero.
When Putin then asked how he was doing, the
actor replied: "Everything is good. We will talk
later. For now just honoured to be here,"
according to a Reuters report .
This is not the first time a Western celebrity
will be bestowed with Russian citizenship. In
2013, Gerard Depardieu, a French actor, was
also granted citizenship.
Seagal does however maintain somewhat of a
unique status among nations within the
Russian sphere of influence, having previously
obtained Serbian citizenship after opening a
martial arts school last year. He also had the
special honour of being fed carrots by
Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko.
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