President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach to Bakhmut to get acquainted with the situation in the region and to understand that “there is no neutrality.”

This week, the IOC announced that it is analyzing options for the return of athletes from Russia and Belarus to international competitions, writes News.ro. The forum stated that all athletes must be treated without discrimination, and it was specified that participation would take place under strict conditions, including not representing the country.

“Today we are starting a marathon of honesty, which is designed to cleanse the leadership of international Olympic structures from hypocrisy and any attempts to involve representatives of a terrorist state in world sports. I can only be disappointed by the statements of the current president of the IOC, Thomas Bach. I spoke with him several times. And I haven’t heard how he will protect sports from war propaganda if he returns Russian athletes to international competitions,” Zelenskyy responded.

“There is no such thing as neutrality when there is a war like this. And we know how often tyranny tries to use sports for its ideological interests. It is obvious that any neutral flag of Russian athletes is stained with blood,” he added.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that if Russian athletes participate in competitions, the political or other influence of the “terrorist state” on sports will be inevitable.

“We will do everything to ensure that the world protects sports from the political or other influence of a terrorist state, which is inevitable if Russian athletes participate in competitions. And especially at the Olympic Games in Paris. Ukrainian athletes are forced to defend their lives and families and defend the freedom of our people from Russian aggression. Russian attacks took the lives of hundreds of men and women from Ukraine who could have shown their talent in world sports. Russia must stop aggression and terror, and only then will it be possible to talk about Russia’s participation in the context of the Olympic movement. Olympic principles and war are fundamentally opposite,” said the Ukrainian president.

Zelenskyi also talked about the situation in the Donetsk region, near Bakhmut and Vugledar.

“The occupiers are purposefully and systematically destroying these cities and neighborhoods. Artillery, aviation, missiles. The Russian army does not lack weapons. And it can be stopped only by force. Our soldiers who protect the regions of Donetsk region are real heroes. Thanks. And, by the way, I invite Mr. Bach to Bakhmut. So that he can see with his own eyes that there is no neutrality,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy added.

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