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Steven Seagal Sets Up Meetings With Russian Diplomats to Discuss Boston Marathon Bombings

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U.S. actor Steven Seagal looks on as he waits for a news conference for the U.S. Congressional delegation to Russia in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia, on June 2, 2013.

And…action! Veteran action flick actor Steven Seagal is officially taking his tough-guy tendencies off-screen and into real life, visiting Moscow with several U.S. diplomats to help open up discussions about the Boston Marathon bombings with Russian officials last week.

The Under Siege star, 61, is no novice to the international relations scene, however. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who led the six-member delegation to Russia last week, told ABC News that he has known the actor for "a number of years," and the pair have frequently discussed "thwarting radical Islamic terrorism."

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"We are very appreciative of the help he has given this congressional delegation to make sure we accomplish our mission," Rohrabacher said, adding that Seagal was "going out of his way" to lend a hand in the Russia-U.S. discussions.

"I don't know if [Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin] would have been available to us without Steven actually suggesting that he do that," he added. "We are very pleased that he opened up some doors for us so we could have some very high level discussions." 

During their visit, the six delegates discussed the April bombings, specifically suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who had spent six months in southern Russia last year.

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It was determined that there was "nothing specific" that could have prevented the attacks, Rohrabacher said at a press conference in Moscow on Sunday, June 2. 

Seagal is only the latest name to join a growing number of seemingly unlikely celebrity diplomats. Earlier this year, NBA star Dennis Rodman made a now-infamous trip to North Korea with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters in an attempt at "basketball diplomacy" with the communist nation.

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Rodman's agent, Darren Prince, told the New York Times in an email that HBO newsmagazine Vice had approached the athlete after photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wearing a Rodman jersey surfaced.

"It showed them what a big fan he was," Prince said.

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