Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned Wednesday Russian athletes ought to face “complete isolation” and never be welcomed again on the 2024 Olympic Games.

Zelensky informed International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach that he strongly opposed strikes by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to permit athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete on the 2024 Paris Games offered they don’t take part underneath their international locations’ colors or flags.

US officers mentioned Monday there was “unanimous interest” amongst delegates to an IOC summit to give you a pathway that may permit athletes from Russia and Belarus to return to competitors.

Russia and Belarus have been remoted from worldwide sport ever since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.

However, Zelensky blasted the American strikes, claiming that “since February, 184 Ukrainian athletes have died as a result of Russia’s actions”.

Zelensky informed Bach he was disenchanted with the presence of the president of the Russian Olympic Committee on the IOC summit on November 9

“One cannot try to be neutral when the foundations of peaceful life are being destroyed and universal human values are being ignored,” he mentioned in an announcement.

Zelensky added that the one response is “the complete isolation of the terrorist state on the international stage. In particular, this applies to international sports events.”

At this yr’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, Russian athletes have been solely allowed to compete underneath the nation’s Russian Olympic Committee flag on account of earlier doping violations.

However many athletes from Russia competed in uniforms within the colors of the Russian flag.