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Seagal received a party membership card of an
alliance named Just Russia - Patriots - For Truth on Saturday, a
video relased by the party showed. It was formed earlier this
year, when three leftist parties, all of which support Putin,
merged into one.
Seagal, a Russian citizen since 2016, proposed a crackdown on
businesses which damage the environment.
"Without being able to arrest people, when we just fine them,
they are probably making more money of the production of the
things that are defiling the environment," said in his welcome
speech at a party event.
The party controls a faction in the lower house of the Russian
parliament and plans to take part in a parliamentary election in
September.
Seagal, a U.S.-born martial artist, is best known for producing
and starring in action movies, while Putin, who granted him the
citizenship, is a fan of martial arts.
At Saturday's ceremony, Seagal posed for pictures next to one of
the party leaders, Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin, who enrolled
in an army of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and
admitted to commanding a combat unit in a conflict which has
killed 14,000 people in seven years.
In 2018, Russia tasked Seagal with improving humanitarian ties
with the United States at a time when relations between the two
countries have deteriorated to their worst level since the Cold
War.
As a Russian representative, Seagal visited Venezuela earlier in
May and presented a samurai sword to Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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