KYIV (Reuters) – French president urges Russia to abide by ceasefire in Ukraine during Paris Olympics Emmanuel Macron The Ukrainian journalist spoke in an interview from Paris that was aired on Ukrainian television and posted on his YouTube channel on Saturday.
“A request for a ceasefire during the Olympics. They (Russians) have to do this. That's what has always happened,” the interviewer said through an interpreter.
“It will be requested,” Macron says in French, to which a voice-over interpreter responds in Ukrainian: “Yes, we will demand it.”
An interpreter quoted President Macron as saying, “The rule for the host country is to keep pace with the Olympic movement.'' “This is a message of peace. We will abide by the decision of the Olympic Committee.”
The International Olympic Committee condemned Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, accusing the Russian government of violating the Olympic Truce Agreement, which aims to use the power of sport to promote peace and dialogue.
On Thursday, the head of the Russian Olympic Committee said the Republic of China would not boycott this year's Paris Olympics, despite restrictions imposed on athletes by the IOC as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in an interview on Wednesday that Russians and Belarusians were better off “not coming.” Russians and Belarusians were initially banned from participating in international competitions following the invasion, and Belarus has been used as a staging area.
(Reporting by Oleksandr Kozhuhar in Kyiv and Elaine Monaghan in Washington; Writing by Elaine Monaghan; Editing by David Gregorio)
