American actor, Steven Seagal has been filmed expressing support for close allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a lavish meal in Moscow on Sunday to celebrate his 70th birthday.
The
movie star was filmed in a video giving a speech at the function on April
10, surrounded by several Russian elites targeted by Western sanctions
amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
Margarita
Simonyan, one of Russia's leading pro-Kremlin media moguls and editor-in-chief
of RT, was in attendance according to the Financial
Times. Russian state television presenter Vladimir Soloviev, who has
openly backed Putin's invasion and accused Britain of orchestrating the
horrific scenes of civilian massacres in Bucha, was also seen standing
next to Seagal.
Both
have been placed on the EU's sanctions list amid Russia's invasion of its
neighbour.
Dressed
in his customary black shirt and yellow-tinted glasses, Steven Seagal declared
to the pro-Putin audience: 'Each and every one of you, you are my family and my
friends. And I love all of you and we stand together, through thick and through
thin.'
Despite
the West's united condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine, Seagal, who is a
close friend to President Putin could get himself in trouble. A long-time
friend of Putin, the American actor was granted a Russian passport in 2016 and
was made Russia's special envoy to the US in 2018.
The
pair have been pictured together on a number of occasions, and are thought to
have bonded over their mutual love of martial arts. Seagal has previously
described Putin as 'one of the greatest world leaders, if not the greatest
world leader, alive today', and in February said in an interview with Fox News
Digital that a propaganda from an 'outside entity' pitted Russia and Ukraine
against each other.
'Most
of us have friends and family in Russia and Ukraine,' he told Fox News Digital.
'I
look at both as one family and really believe it is an outside entity spending
huge sums of money on propaganda to provoke the two countries to be at odds
with each other.'
Source: LIB
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