Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Great Britain, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia issued a statement regarding the prevention of athletes from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus from participating in international sports competitions.
Tomorrow the International Olympic Committee will decide if Russia can participate in the Olympics.
“As we are approaching the next meeting of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee on March 28-30, 2023, we wish to reiterate Ukraine’s position on the IOC’s recent calls to explore the pathways for the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in competitions as ‘neutral athletes’.“
The Ministers stress that it is not athletes’ nationality that determines their role, but the fact that they are sponsored/supported by their governments or businesses backing up the Kremlin regime, which continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, or even they are affiliated with the Russian military directly.