Criticism Of Russia's Participation In The 2024 Olympics, President Zelensky: Close Eyes To What HAPPENED In Bakhmut To Kherson

2024 Paris Olympics. (Wikimedia Commons/Anne Jea)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday allowing Russia to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics would be tantamount to showing, "acts of terror are acceptable".

President Zelensky said he had sent a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, as part of his campaign to remove Russian athletes from the Paris Olympics.

"The efforts of the International Olympic Committee to bring Russian athletes back to the Olympics are an attempt to tell the whole world that terror is acceptable," President Zelensky criticized in his evening video address.

"It's as if you can turn a blind eye to what Russia is doing in Kherson, Kharkiv, Bakhmut and Avdivka," he continued, referring to the areas that were attacked by Russian troops.

Russia, he said, should not be allowed to "use (matches) or other sporting events as propaganda for its country's aggression or chauvinism".

Earlier, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last week said it welcomed proposals from the Asian Olympic Council for the opportunity for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in Asia.

President Zelensky spoke with President Macron last week and has since launched a "cataton of honesty" to keep Russian athletes away from the Paris Olympics.

On Saturday, he said it was impossible for neutrality in the sport as his country's athletes struggled and died in the war.

In his latest comments, President Zelensky said the 20th century had seen too many mistakes that led to a terrible tragedy.

"And there was a huge mistake at the Olympics," he said, referring to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin when the Nazis came to power.

"The Olympic movement and terrorist countries must not cross paths," he said.