Kiev (AFP) - Arnold
Schwarzenegger on Friday sent a video message of support to
anti-government protesters in Ukraine, wishing them luck and making a
peace sign.
"I want to send a
message to the people of the Ukraine to let them know that I wish them
all the best of luck in their peaceful struggle for democracy and
freedom," said the deeply tanned action star and former California
governor.
"Peace!" he added, raising a V sign.
Schwarzenegger
sent the message via fellow muscleman celebrity turned politician
Vitali Klitschko, leader of UDAR, or Punch, opposition party.
Klitschko,
who is a key opponent of Viktor Yanukovych, has attempted to resolve
the violent crisis in Kiev by holding talks with the Ukrainian
president, who has so far granted only a few concessions that have
failed to satisfy the protesters' demands.
The
Schwarzenegger video was posted Friday on YouTube and Facebook pages
belonging to Vitali Klitschko and his world heavyweight champion brother
Wladimir.
By publicly backing the
opposition protesters, Schwarzenegger joined stars including actor
George Clooney, who last month recorded a video message criticising the
government's violent suppression of protests.
Fellow Republican, Senator John McCain, also addressed several hundred thousand protesters at a Kiev rally in December.
Schwarzenegger,
who stepped down as California governor in 2011, has previously made
friendly overtures to Ukraine's former master Russia. In 2010 he showed
then-president Dmitry Medvedev round Silicon Valley and then visited him
in Moscow, where the two pumped iron at a gym together.
The video can be viewed .
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