US and European countries are in favor of preventing Russia from the 2024 Olympics – Reuters

A group of 35 countries, including Germany, France and the UK, demanded that Russian and Belarusian athletes be banned from participating in the Olympic Games, the Lithuanian sports minister told the publication.

According to him, the discussion of the non-admission of Russians took place with the participation of Vladimir Zelensky, who said that the principle of neutrality is not applicable to Russia. Also in Ukraine, they threatened to boycott the Olympics if Russia was allowed to attend.

At the same time, earlier the International Olympic Committee stated that Russians and Belarusians could be allowed to participate in the Games under a neutral flag. Representatives of the IOC argued that most countries do not support Ukraine’s position on the boycott of the Olympics. The Minister of Sports of Poland said that the complete removal of Russians from the Olympics has not yet been discussed, and there are more “compromising solutions” – for example, to create a “team of refugees”, which could include dissidents from the Russian Federation and Belarus.