By Jackie Shannon
Donald Trump might think he’s gonna buddy up with Russian leader, Vladimir Putin when he – yikes, really? – takes on the mantle of US President, but if he thinks this international bromance is going to unfold untested, then he’s got another thing coming. It seems that the Russian strong man has taken a fancy to another American heavyweight, offering up Russian citizenship to none other than waning action hero, Steven Seagal.
The star of such grunt-and-thump belters as Above The Law, On Deadly Ground, and Under Siege has been a longtime supporter of Putin (“He’s one of the greatest world leaders,” the actor once said of Putin, while also defending Russia’s highly controversial 2014 annexation of Crimea) and his balls-to-the-wall brand of foreign policy. Putin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has told reporters that Seagal “has been insistent for a long time in asking to be granted Russian citizenship. He is known for his warm feelings to our country. He never made a secret of it, and he’s also a well-known actor, which gave grounds to make him a Russian citizen.”
Seagal – a regular visitor to Russia – has yet to comment on Putin’s offer, and his representatives have not responded about whether he plans to accept, or if he’ll claim dual Russian-American citizenship, which could force him to pay taxes to both countries. Okay, so he probably won’t be doing that. And though he might not exactly be a box office titan anymore, it seems that Steven Seagal is still a very popular guy. He was also granted Serbian citizenship in January after offering to establish a martial arts school in that country’s capital of Belgrade.
How times change…remember when 1980s action heroes hated Russia?
