President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that on Wednesday he spoke with the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, who asked him not to allow Russian athletes to compete even under a neutral flag.

“The principles of the Olympic movement in no way envisage cooperation with terrorist states. Any ideas about how to return Russian representatives to international competitions are ideas about how to allow those guilty of terror to tell their society that the world should forgive terror,” explained Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“It would be a sporting pleasure. This is how Russian propaganda will present it if the International Olympic Committee fails and allows those who represent war and nothing else to participate in sports events on an equal footing with others,” Zelenskyy said.

“I don’t want to know if there are grounds behind such ideas about the return of Russia. But no one will turn a blind eye to any attempt to reduce international pressure on the source of the war,” said the Ukrainian Head of State.

“When we receive reports like today (Wednesday – not) in Kherson, where a child, a boy – he was eight years old – was killed by yet another Russian shelling – we can only say one thing: a white flag or any other neutral flag is impossible for Russian athletes, all their flags are stained with blood,” Volodymyr Zelensky concluded his address.

(Source: news.ro)