Steven Seagal celebrated his 70th birthday by praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and his closest allies, according to a report.

Video began circulating the Internet this week that shows the action star in Moscow at dinner with several Russian elites, including pro-Kremlin media mogul Margarita Simonyan and state television presenter Vladimir Soloviev, who has publicly backed Putin's invasion of neighboring Ukraine. The Daily Mail said the gathering was for Steven's milestone birthday.
In a speech that night, Steven told the pro-Putin crowd, "Each and every one of you, you are my family and my friends. And I love all of you and we stand together, through thick and through thin."
The fact that Steven lauded Putin and his pals shouldn't come as a surprise. The "On Deadly Ground" star reportedly lives in Moscow and has been photographed with Putin many times. He was also granted Russian citizenship in 2016 and has criticized the U.S. government over the years. He once called Putin "one of the greatest world leaders, if not the greatest world leader, alive today."

Not long after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Steven refused to blame Putin for the invasion.
"Most of us have friends and family in Russia & Ukraine. I look at both as one family and really believe it is an outside entity spending huge sums of money on propaganda to provoke the two countries to be at odds with each other," he told Fox News Digital. "My prayers are that both countries will come to a positive, peaceful resolution where we can live & thrive together in peace."
Interestingly, Fox News noted that the action star was banned from entering Ukraine for five years, citing national security reasons, back in 2015.