Ukraine (bbabo.net), - The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, during a visit to Kyiv, said that athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be welcome at the Olympic Games, which will be held in the French capital this year.

“I want to tell Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris. And I want to say to Ukrainian athletes and the entire Ukrainian people that we support them very much,” she said.

The agency notes that a video of the mayor’s speech was published by the YouTube channel United News.

In Kyiv, Hidalgo visited the center where Ukrainian athletes train and talked with them, Le Monde reports.

“Paris will greet you as heroes, in Paris you will be at home,” she said at a meeting with Vadim Gutsait, president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.

Then Hidalgo came to the Lokomotiv stadium and met with the mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko. This is her fourth visit to Kyiv since the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022.

The Olympic Games in Paris will be held from July 26 to August 11, and later the Paralympics will take place at the same venues (from August 28 to September 8).

The International Olympic Committee said that no more than 55 Russian athletes will be able to compete at the Games in a neutral status, and they will not take part in the parade of athletes at the opening ceremony. Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said that Russian athletes themselves will decide on participation in the Olympic Games.

bbabo.Net