Actor and friend of Vladimir Putin satisfied Kyrgyzstan president and opened World Nomad Games clad in medieval armour and on horseback
Some travel to see the sights, others travel to relax, but Steven Seagal has a bigger mission: world peace. Or so he says.
The Hollywood actor, who in recent months has been given the red-carpet treatment by various post-Soviet leaders, said on a visit to Kyrgyzstan he wanted to bringing all people together, to live in harmony.
Last month, Seagal met with Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus and regarded as Europes last dictator. Lukashenko fed the actor a carrot, and the pair reviewed and considered the weather and the harvest.
Seagal has formed a warm relationship with Vladimir Putin and even been given a rare invitation to the Russian presidents residence. He has also paid a visit to Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed ruler of Chechnya who is accused of widespread human rights abuses.
Seagal is currently in Kyrgyzstan, where he opened the World Nomad Games by trotting in the different regions of the stadium clothe in medieval armour atop a pony. He also met with Kyrgyzstans president, Almazbek Atambayev, who has been accused by critics of possessing an increasingly authoritarian streak.
You guys are lucky because you have in my opinion a great president, Seagal told local journalists in Bishkek on Monday, ahead of playing guitar at a charity dinner at which tickets sold for $1,000 per head. He treated me not as a distinguished guest but more like a friend. We discussed a lot of very important matters. Personal matters, philosophical matters, spiritual matters.
Asked by the Guardian why he had embarked on this unusual tour of sessions with post-Soviet leaders, Seagal said he believed Putin, Lukashenko and Atambayev to be great men.
You dont have to be a great human or a good man or an ethical human to be the president of countries around the world, but the fact of the matter is in my humble opinion these chairwomen that God has blessed me with the accolade to know are all really, really great men, the actor said.
Along with the boons that God has given me to know these great people, it is my deepest said he wished to transcend any kind of politics, particularly those that are divisive and manipulative and untrue. He criticised western media for their coverage of the region, saying western countries are jockeying to say things that are not true.
Seagal also said he planned to shoot movies in Kyrgyzstan in the future, and was looking for tough men, fighters, people who can do stunts on ponies and beautiful girls to star in them. The actor said it was probably not for sure but probably my first time in Kyrgyzstan. He was given a heros welcome in the central Asian nation, and his press conference ended with applause, followed by journalists meeting with the actor for a group photograph.
Read more: www.theguardian.com
