The U.S. and Russia have a weirdly erratic relationship right now. There's an ongoing investigation into whether or not, and to what extent, Russia tried to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, a Russian national is accused of trying to infiltrate and influence the Republican Party, and Donald Trump vacillates between working as a fluffer for Vladimir Putin and then warning that Russians will try to illegally swing the 2018 midterm election to Democrats.

So, in the hope of stabilizing that fraught dynamic, Russia has appointed a special representative dedicated to improving Russia-U.S. relations, working in the "humanitarian sphere" and "in the sphere of culture, public and youth exchanges." And that special representative is none other than Steven Seagal himself. While that may seem, let's say, confusing, it's not a complete shock if you've kept track of Seagal and his russophilia in the last few years. Per CNN:


Seagal, who became a Russian citizen in 2016, is a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He attended Putin's recent swearing-in ceremony in May.

Seagal has been an ardent supporter of Putin, going so far as to defend his government against allegations of election meddling in the United States. He told Piers Morgan on the British ITV network's "Good Morning Britain" last year, "For anyone to think that Vladimir Putin had anything to do with fixing the elections, or even that the Russians have that kind of technology, is stupid."

This idea isn't actually new—in 2013 Putin suggested to then-President Obama that Seagal be appointed to just such a role, which left Obama "flabbergasted." There are a lot of reasons to be skeptical of about how successful this appointment will be (even if the motivations turn out to be sincere and free of subterfuge), starting with the optics and the fact that lately Seagal seems to have leaned hard into a Bond villain aesthetic. In any event, Seagal's appointment is an inspiring story that even in the #MeToo era, it's possible to bounce back from sexual assault accusations and get a prestigious political position.