Coat of arms of the Russian Olympic Committee during the annual Olympic meeting at its headquarters in Moscow on March 14, 2024.
Seva Karajan | Anatolia | Getty Images
French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview from Paris that was broadcast on Ukrainian television and published by a Ukrainian journalist on her YouTube channel on Saturday that Russia will be asked to adhere to a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Paris Olympics.
“Demand a ceasefire during the Olympic Games. They (the Russians) must do it. This is what has always happened,” the interviewer said, speaking through a translator.
“It will be requested,” Macron says in French, before the voiceover delivers his response in Ukrainian as: “Yes, we will request that.”
The translator quoted Macron as saying: “The rule of the host country is to move in line with the Olympic movement.” He added, “This is a message of peace. We will also follow the decision of the Olympic Committee.”
The International Olympic Committee condemned Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, saying the Russian government violated the Olympic Truce, which aims to harness the power of sport to promote peace and dialogue.
The Russian Olympic Committee will not boycott the Paris Olympics this year, despite restrictions imposed on athletes by the International Olympic Committee as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine, the head of the Russian Olympic Committee said on Thursday.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that she would prefer the Russians and Belarusians not come. Russians and Belarusians were initially banned from competing internationally following the invasion, for which Belarus was used as a staging ground.
