In kyiv, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo reaffirms her desire not to have Russian athletes at the Olympics

Audio 01:18

The mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo was visiting kyiv and reaffirming her opposition to the arrival of Russian athletes at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

© PRESS OFFICE OF VITALI KLITSCHKO / AFP

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2 mins

This Thursday, February 9, Annie Hidalgo was visiting Ukraine, where she met the mayor of kyiv, Vitaly Klitschko, and spoke to the municipal council of the Ukrainian capital.

The opportunity to discuss the participation of Russian athletes in the Paris Olympics in 2024.

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This is the second time that Anne Hidalgo has visited the Ukrainian capital since the start of the Russian invasion, recalls our correspondent in Kiev,

Stéphane Siohan

.

The mayor of Paris came, with a Parisian delegation, to provide humanitarian aid, but also to announce the creation of a

task force

between the town halls of Paris, Brussels and Warsaw, to stimulate efforts and investments, with a view to the reconstruction of Kiev and Ukraine in general…

But facing the mayor of Kiev and former boxer, Vitaly Klitschko, Anne Hidalgo had a very specific message to bring: "

 I do not want, I do not want there to be a Russian delegation as long as there is war, as long as Russia attacks Ukraine.

I don't want there to be a Russian delegation

at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, even, since it had been mentioned, under a neutral banner, because that doesn't exist, the neutral banner doesn't exist.  

»

The mayor of Paris insists: “

There, it is not about doping, it is about a war and an aggression against a people who simply ask for self-determination, so I do not want a Russian delegation. at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris as long as there is this war. 

»

The words of the mayor of Paris inevitably met with the approval of the mayor of kyiv, as well as his municipal councillors, even if the decision on the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympic Games belongs to the Olympic Committee.

But the Kievans appreciated, at its fair value, the fact that the mayor of Paris, the city of light, shares their fight.

Meeting in London scheduled for Friday on the subject

At the same time, on Thursday, the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, denounced Ukrainian threats to boycott the Paris 2024 Olympics if Russian and Belarusian athletes participate, which "

 go against the fundamentals of the Olympic movement

 “, According to a letter revealed Thursday by the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.

This Friday, a conference will bring together the sports ministers of several countries, organized by London, on the presence of these athletes at the Paris Olympics.

► To read also: Ukraine fights to exclude Russian athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympics

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  • Ukraine

  • France

  • Anne Hidalgo

  • Olympic Games 2024

  • Russia