Ukrainian officials are reportedly giving the IOC an ultimatum over Russia's participation in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris: Ban them or 'will have to boycott the Olympic Games'
- The IOC said Russian and Belarusan players can compete in the 2024 Summer Games under neutral flags.
- Ukrainian officials have called for Russian and Belarusan athletes to be banned from the games.
Ukraine's sports minister threatened to boycott the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris if Russia and Belarus are allowed to play, The Associated Press reported.
"We cannot compromise on the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes," Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadym Huttsait, who also heads its national Olympic committee, told the AP — noting that Belarus is an ally of Moscow.
Huttsait's remark comes as Russia's invasion of Ukraine heads into its first year with no sign of it ending anytime soon and after the International Olympic Committee announced last month that Russian and Belarusan athletes could compete in the games as neutrals without flags or anthems.
While Ukraine's national Olympic committee did not commit to boycotting the games just yet, they did agree on a plan to lobby sports officials in other countries to ban Russian and Belarusan players from participating in games in the next two months, The Washington Post reported.
"As a last option, but I note that this is my personal opinion, if we do not succeed, then we will have to boycott the Olympic Games," Huttsait said, according to the AP.
Poland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have also recently shown support for banning Russian and Belarusan players from the games, the Post reported.
The AP reported that the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania also called on the IOC to ban Russian athletes from next summer's games because of the conflict in Ukraine.
Latvia's Prime Minister Arturs Krisjanis Karins called it "morally reprehensible" to allow Russia to compete in the games.
"I think that our efforts should be on convincing our other friends and allies that the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes is just wrong," Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said. "So boycotting is the next step. I think people will understand why this is necessary."
Last month, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said Russian players should not be allowed to compete in the games.
"Attempts by the International Olympic Committee to bring Russian athletes back into the Olympic Games are attempts to tell the whole world that terror is somehow acceptable," Zelenskyy said on January 27 in his nightly video address.
"It is obvious that any neutral flag of Russian athletes is stained with blood," he added.