Steven Seagal gives a samurai sword to Nicolás Maduro

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met on Tuesday with U.S. actor Steven Seagal, who serves as a special representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

During the meeting broadcast on state television from the presidential palace in Caracas, the famous actor and seventh dan in the Japanese martial art of "aikido", presented Maduro with a samurai sword.

The Venezuelan ruler wielded it and joked by performing several simple movements in the style of combat with a katana.

It is not known since when the tall, stocky 68-year-old actor has been in the country.

Action films such as "Under Siege (1992)" and "Exit Wounds (2001) cemented Seagal's career as an action movie actor.

Russia, together with China, is an unconditional ally of the Venezuelan government in the midst of the severe economic crisis plaguing Venezuela and the sanctions imposed by the United States in an attempt to prevent Maduro's government from carrying out financial and commercial transactions abroad, accessing Venezuela's international assets and carrying out operations with oil, gold or other assets.

The Russian Foreign Ministry in 2018 appointed Seagal as a "special representative" to the United States.

As the Kremlin's representative Seagal - a descendant of Russian Jewish immigrant paternal grandparents - seeks to facilitate relations between Washington and Moscow on humanitarian issues, cultural and artistic exchanges.