Chess great Kasparov slams West for dragging feet on Ukraine

Sarajevo: The US and the EU have "lost a lot of time" reacting to Russian President Vladimir Putin`s actions in Ukraine, opposition activist and chess legend Garry Kasparov has warned. "I think they have waited too long...Having trusted Putin`s version that it was a `civil war` in Ukraine," Kasparov told Bosnian daily Dnevni Avaz in an interview published today.

Kasparov said a "military intervention" against Russia "could hardly be expected before... And now it would be even more difficult." "Now, after the crash of MH17 plane, they are again losing time," he said. "This is what always happens if there is no reaction against a dictator like Putin, the price is always rising," Kasparov said. A fierce critic of the Kremlin, Kasparov retired from competitive chess in 2005 after dominating the game for two decades. He became the youngest ever world champion aged 22 in 1985. Kasparov has been spending his summer vacation on the Croatian coast for years and has a house there. He reportedly plans to open a chess academy in the northern Adriatic resort of Opatija.