AIRLINK 81.10 Increased By ▲ 2.55 (3.25%)
BOP 4.82 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (1.05%)
CNERGY 4.09 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-1.68%)
DFML 37.98 Decreased By ▼ -1.31 (-3.33%)
DGKC 93.00 Decreased By ▼ -2.65 (-2.77%)
FCCL 23.84 Decreased By ▼ -0.32 (-1.32%)
FFBL 32.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.77 (-2.35%)
FFL 9.24 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-1.39%)
GGL 10.06 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.89%)
HASCOL 6.65 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.68%)
HBL 113.00 Increased By ▲ 3.50 (3.2%)
HUBC 145.70 Increased By ▲ 0.69 (0.48%)
HUMNL 10.54 Decreased By ▼ -0.19 (-1.77%)
KEL 4.62 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.33%)
KOSM 4.12 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-3.29%)
MLCF 38.25 Decreased By ▼ -1.15 (-2.92%)
OGDC 131.70 Increased By ▲ 2.45 (1.9%)
PAEL 24.89 Decreased By ▼ -0.98 (-3.79%)
PIBTL 6.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.42%)
PPL 120.00 Decreased By ▼ -2.70 (-2.2%)
PRL 23.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.45 (-1.85%)
PTC 12.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.89 (-6.85%)
SEARL 59.95 Decreased By ▼ -1.23 (-2.01%)
SNGP 65.50 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.46%)
SSGC 10.15 Increased By ▲ 0.26 (2.63%)
TELE 7.85 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.13%)
TPLP 9.87 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.2%)
TRG 64.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.08%)
UNITY 26.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.33%)
WTL 1.33 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.76%)
BR100 8,052 Increased By 75.9 (0.95%)
BR30 25,581 Decreased By -21.4 (-0.08%)
KSE100 76,707 Increased By 498.6 (0.65%)
KSE30 24,698 Increased By 260.2 (1.06%)

imageMOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Friday personally handed a new Russian passport to US action star Steven Seagal and said he hoped the gesture showed a "normalisation" of strained relations with Washington.

Sitting at a round table in the Kremlin at a televised meeting, Putin showed the Hollywood actor where to sign the passport.

They then rose and shook hands with Putin saying briefly: "I congratulate you," and Seagal answering in Russian: "Spasibo bolshoye," or thank you very much.

The Kremlin released a transcript of their chat, with Putin saying that they had been discussing citizenship for "quite a while" and agreed it must be an "absolutely depoliticised act."

Putin said he hoped that adding Seagal to the list of celebrities who have gained Russian citizenship in recent years could be seen as "a sign of gradual normalisation of the relations between our countries."

Seagal called the passport a "great honour," while Putin responded by telling him he hoped "our personal relationship will remain and continue."

Seagal is the latest in a string of high-profile Westerners to be granted Russian citizenship after buddying up with Putin.

Veteran French actor Gerard Depardieu was given a Russian passport in 2013 after the star became a tax exile in ire over rate hikes in his native country.

Putin has also handed out citizenship to US boxer Roy Jones Jr after sipping tea with him in Crimea and to American mixed martial artist Jeff Monson.

Seagal's fame peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s with films such as "Under Siege" and "Above the Law", but he remains hugely popular in eastern Europe and was granted Serbian citizenship in January.

Like Depardieu, he has previously hung out with Putin, a fellow martial arts fan, and other strongmen leaders from the former Soviet Union.

After Russia's annexation of Crimea, Seagal called Putin "one of the great living world leaders" and even performed with his blues band in the annexed Black Sea peninsula.

In August, veteran Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko made Seagal eat one of his homegrown carrots in an awkward encounter that drew mockery online.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2016

Comments

Comments are closed.