Macron says he hopes for Olympic truce

France hopes to enlist the help of China in creating a "moment of diplomatic peace" in Ukraine and the Middle East during the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, French President Emmanuel Macron told French news channel BFMTV on April 15.

The Olympic truce was a tradition in Ancient Greece. Announced before the Games, the truce allowed the safe passage of athletes to and from the Olympics.

"We want to work towards the Olympic truce and I think that this is an opportunity on which I will try to involve many of our partners," Macron said, speaking to BFMTV 100 days before the start of the Olympics.

Macron said he hopes to enlist the help of China, since his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will visit France in May. China last hosted the Winter Olympics in February 2022.

While Russia and Belarus are not invited to the Olympics due to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee announced in December 2023 that their athletes are allowed to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes.

Macron described this decision as "proportionate and fair."

"What we ask of athletes is decency, not to make comments that are disrespectful, to support respect for the adversary, not to engage in politics or to be aggressive," Macron said.

"Olympism allows us to reconcile nations that do not agree, are at war, have sanctions against each other, allows athletes to reconcile despite this."

Russia was officially banned from competing in the Olympics for four years in 2019 due to systematic doping practices, but still participated in 2020 and 2022 under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).

The ROC was suspended in October 2023 for declaring authority over the athletic organizations of Russian-occupied Ukraine.

Under the rules, Russian and Belarusian athletes are not able to participate as teams nor display any flags or any official identification with either country. These athletes are also not allowed to take part in the opening ceremony in Paris.

Read also: Opinion: It’s time to ban Russian athletes from the 2024 Olympic Games

We’ve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.