President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi will speak on Friday during a video conference with the participation of sports ministers of several countries regarding the presence of Russian athletes at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the PA agency reported, citing AFP.

The Ukrainian leader, who will speak at the opening of this London-organized conference, has repeatedly called for the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the next Olympic Games, calling again this week to “protect the Olympic Charter.”

Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from most international competitions since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has pushed for weeks to allow them to compete in the 2024 Olympics under a neutral flag.

Great Britain, an ardent supporter of Ukraine since the beginning of the war, criticized the position of the IOC, as did many other European states, including the Czech Republic, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and even Poland.

“We need to ask the IOC to demonstrate that the values ​​of Olympism mean something. We need to be clear that there are consequences for this illegal invasion,” said British Sports Minister Lucy Fraser, quoted by the AP news agency.

“We cannot allow Russian athletes to stand next to the Great Britain team or anyone else on the world stage,” she added.

Polish Minister of Sports Kamil Bortnychuk said a few days ago that it is expected that about 40 countries will oppose the participation of Russians and Belarusians in Friday’s conference.

Some countries even threaten to boycott, like Ukraine.

The IOC condemned the threats, which “go against the foundations of the Olympic movement,” in a letter published Thursday by its president, Thomas Bach, to the Olympic Committee of Ukraine.