Russia is seeking the help of an action star known for fighting off bad guys with his bare hands to improve relations with the United States. Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced Saturday on Facebook that it had named American actor Steven Seagal as special representative for Russian-U.S. humanitarian ties. As part of his unpaid role, the martial artist will have to “facilitate relations between Russia and the United States in the humanitarian field, including cooperation in culture, arts, public, and youth exchanges.” The job marks a “case of people’s diplomacy meeting with traditional diplomacy,” the ministry said, comparing his role to that of a U.N. goodwill ambassador.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also fancies himself quite the martial artist, presented Seagal with Russian citizenship in 2016. The actor has frequently stood up for Russia and its policies. He not only defended Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, he has also pushed back against claims that Moscow meddled in the U.S. presidential election. “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,” Seagal said in an interview with Britain’s ITV network last year. He has also vociferously praised Putin, calling him “one of the greatest world leaders, if not the greatest world leader, alive today” during a 2013 interview with RT.

The 66-year-old actor said he was “sincerely grateful” for the appointment. “I’ve always tried to do everything possible to help Russian-American relations to improve,” Seagal said. “I was working towards without having an official status and now it is a great honor for me to do the same officially.”

As strange as it is, this isn’t the first time the idea of Seagal as a diplomatic envoy has been put forward. A 2015 BuzzFeed story revealed that Putin had suggested to then-President Barack Obama that Seagal could be an honorary consul of Russia in California and Arizona. “Our reaction was, ‘You’ve got to be kidding’,” a U.S. official told BuzzFeed.