Actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger publicly appealed to Ukrainian President Vladimir Putin to “stop this war” between the Kremlin and Ukraine through a video posted on social media.
In the nine-minute clip posted to his Twitter account, Schwarzenegger directly addressed the people of Russia and those fighting in Ukraine in an attempt to “deny Russian falsehoods.”
The 74-year-old former governor shared his opinion on the conflict and the need to stop it, including a message at the end of the clip aimed directly at Putin for the war to end.
“To President Putin, I say: You started this war. You're leading this war. You can stop this war,” he said.
The actor, who was the first Western movie star to shoot a film in Moscow with “Red Heat” in 1988, stated that he wants Russians to know the circumstances surrounding the conflict.
“Nobody likes to hear anything critical about their government, I understand that, but as a friend of the Russian people for a long time, I hope they hear what I have to say,” he explained.
“There are moments like this that are very bad and then we have to talk. I know that your government has told you that this is a war to denazify Ukraine, this is not true. Ukraine is a country with a Jewish president whose father's three brothers were killed by the Nazis,” he said.
“As you can see, Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did the nationalists or the Nazis. Those in power in the Kremlin started this war. This is not the war of the Russian people,” he added.
In the video, Schwarzenegger expressed his admiration for Russian weightlifter Yuri Petrovich Vlasov. “In 1961, when I was 14 years old, a good friend of mine invited me to Vienna to watch the World Weightlifting Championships. I was among the audience when Yuri Petrovich Vlasov won the title of world champion, becoming the first human being to lift 200 kilograms on his head. Somehow, a friend of mine took me to the backstage. Suddenly, there was a 14-year-old boy in front of the strongest man in the world. I couldn't believe it. He held out his hand to shake it. He had the hand of this powerful man who swallowed mine. But he was kind and smiled at me. I will never forget that day,” he said in the story.
Keep reading:
Is Putin a war criminal? : who can define it and what is the process like