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France will ask Russia to observe a cease-fire in Ukraine during this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with Ukrainian television on Saturday.
“It will be requested,” Macron said, before a voiceover interpreter quoted the French president as saying that France would do so in line with the spirit of the Olympic movement. “This is a message of peace.”
The Paris Olympics will take place from July 26 to August 11, with 10,500 athletes from 206 countries competing over the course of the two and a half weeks.
Macron said France would respect the decision of the Olympic Committee to allow Russian athletes to compete under a neutral flag.
“Of course, we will closely monitor their performances, so that no one takes advantage of the athletes in this situation,” he was quoted as saying through the interpreter.
The French president also weighed in on the Russian presidential election, in which President Vladimir Putin is expected to secure a fifth term in power after facing no real opposition. Asked if he would recognize the result of the election, Macron did not give a straight answer.
“This is a question for a foreign leader, whether to accept it or not,” he said. “But the question is how we should see the situation and whether we should give ourselves an answer.”
He went on to say that Russia can be considered “an imperialist country and an authoritarian regime” that kills political opponents and wages war against its neighbors.
But he did not give a yes or no answer, according to the interpretation.
