New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday honoured the American actor Steven Seagal with the state Order of Friendship medal for his contribution to improving Russia’s international relations.
The decree signed by President Putin awarded the actor with the medal and cited what it called Seagal’s “great contribution to the development of international cultural and humanitarian cooperation”, reported CNN.
70-year-old Seagal was granted Russian citizenship in 2016 and he received a Russian passport personally from Putin, reported CNN. From then, the actor has been serving as a special envoy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for humanitarian relations with the US and Japan since 2018, The Moscow Times said.
As per the report, the former action hero supported Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its invasion of Ukraine. He also visited the occupied Donbas area last summer.
CNN mentioned that in an interview on Russian television last year, he spoke of an existential threat to Russia from Ukraine.
A vocal supporter of Putin, Seagal is reported to be working on a documentary about the war in Ukraine, reported The Moscow Times citing sources close to the Kremlin.
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Seagal made a highly publicised visit to eastern Ukraine in August last year as part of his work on the documentary.
The visit, however, raised eyebrows as many pointed out that Seagal’s visit had included a stop at the Olenivka prison, where at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war are believed to have been killed, the report added.
Earlier on Monday, Russia has acknowledged China's proposal for a political solution to the conflict in Ukraine, but said that the conditions for peace were not currently in place. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia "paid a lot of attention to China's plan", but added that they "did not see any of the necessary conditions for peace at this time", reported news agency AFP.
China has attempted to remain neutral in the conflict while maintaining a close relationship with its ally Russia. Last week, Beijing released a 12-point paper outlining steps to end the war in Ukraine, which included respect for all countries' territorial sovereignty.
While the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed gratitude for China's efforts, it also stated that any settlement must recognize Russia's control over four Ukrainian regions: Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. Although Russia claims to have annexed these regions, it has never had full control over them, according to AFP.