HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, saying it is important not to “repeat the mistakes of history” regarding the crisis in his native Ukraine.
Klitschko, brother of opposition leader Vitali Klitschko, is training in Florida for a title defence in April. At a news conference, he sat in front of a Ukrainian flag and wore a white T-shirt with his country’s name and logo.
“You cannot repeat the mistakes of history, and there were many mistakes,” Klitschko said when asked about a message to Putin.
Klitschko said he was saddened by months of protests and sporadic violence in his country, and that his “mind is there, my body is here.”
Russian forces took control of Crimea two weeks ago following the overthrow of pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Klitschko’s brother has given up boxing to run for president in Ukraine, where elections are scheduled for May 25.
“He represents me in a certain way there, and I represent him in a certain way here,” said Klitschko, who speaks to his brother daily. “But I know, as Nelson Mandela said, that ‘sport has the power to change the world.’ And I firmly believe in that.”
Klitschko stressed that there is only one path to peace.
“There is only one solution. There is no military solution at all,” he said. “It’s all a matter of diplomacy and good politics, because no one can restore lost love. They never will.”
“I just hope that with all the international presence and awareness, certain steps from the political and diplomatic side will put the legal issue in its place.”
Klitschko suggested that Russia’s takeover of Crimea could happen elsewhere.
“Geopolitics is a very sensitive issue,” he said. “If you think about it, with all the quality of lawyers, they could find that the agreement between Russia and the United States that was made with Alaska had some loopholes in the contract. So, let’s put it back the way it was before. You can go on and on and on.”
Klitschko, who turns 38 on Tuesday, spoke after training for his April 26 title defense against Alex Leapai in Germany. He plans to travel to Austria on Saturday for more training and return to Ukraine after the fight.
He said his athletic career helps him deal with the crisis in his home country.
“It’s disappointment, it’s anger, it’s worry. It’s a combination of everything, you can imagine,” he said. “There are a lot of emotions, but I understand it. It’s like in a boxing match, if you get too excited, you will definitely make mistakes that will eventually cause more damage.”
Klitschko said the crisis began when the Ukrainian people grew tired of Yanukovich’s “regime, dictatorship” and not because of Western intervention.
“It’s frustrating because, not only me, but no one could have imagined that something like this could happen,” he said. “It was something impossible in a country like Ukraine, which was never involved in any war, never had any terrorist attacks. A country that was always open and welcoming, as we saw in the European Cup in football, which we shared with Poland.
“I hope that we can get through this process in a positive and satisfactory way and that we will reach a good solution as soon as possible. Fortunately, the European Union and the United States have been aware of what is happening in Ukraine from the very beginning.”
