Russia will be asked for ceasefire during Olympics, Macron tells Ukraine interviewer

Reuters

Published Mar 16, 2024 22:55

KYIV (Reuters) - Russia will be asked to observe a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Paris Olympics, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview from Paris shown on Ukrainian television and posted by a Ukrainian journalist on her YouTube channel on Saturday.

"The demand for a ceasefire during the Olympics. They (the Russians) must do this. That is what has always happened," the interviewer said, speaking through an interpreter.

"It will be requested," Macron says in French before a voiceover interpretation gives his response in Ukrainian as "Yes, we will ask for it."

"The rule of the host country is to move in step with the Olympic movement," the interpreter quoted Macron as saying. "This is a message of peace. We will also follow the decision of the Olympic Committee."

The International Olympic Committee condemned Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, saying the Russian government had breached the Olympic Truce, which aims to harness the power of sport to promote peace and dialogue.