Action movie star Steven Seagal was welcomed to Russia by President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, as the duo helped open a new martial arts center and sports arena in the heart of Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. movie actor Steven Seagal visit a new sports arena in Moscow, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. President Vladimir Putin has called for the revival of the Soviet-era physical evaluation program that required all schoolchildren to pass fitness tests. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service)Action movie star Steven Seagal was welcomed to Russia by President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, as the duo helped open a new martial arts center and sports arena in the heart of Moscow.
According to the Russia and India report, the controversial Russian president and Seagal toured the Sambo-70 sports complex where Putin was to explore the possibility of re-instituting a Soviet-era physical evaluation program requiring schoolchildren to pass fitness tests.
"Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting with trainers, athletes, veterans and experts on a ... system of physical training of children and child youthful sports," the Kremlin News Service reports.
Apparently Seagal visits Russia regularly and his movies are quite popular there. The news agency reports that in 2012, Seagal accompanied Putin to a Sambo (Russian martial arts) tournament and he has also spent time in a "region of Kalmykia, known for its wrestling tradition and strong Buddhist faith, of which Seagal is a devotee."
Still the visit comes at a time when Russia-U.S. relations are tense, at best, and outrage is still fresh over former NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman's trip to North Korea to hang out with dictator Kim Jong Un. Rodman has since pledged to vacation with the North Korean leader as the country continues to antagonize the world community with tests of nuclear weapons.
Russia and the U.S. have most recently been at odds over the crisis in Syria and the state of human rights in that country since Putin returned to its top political post. The leader has cracked down on dissenting groups in Russia and come under fire from the international community as a result.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.