The 2024 Olympics in Paris will have no place for Russia, which has committed war crimes in neighboring Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron said this in an interview on Wednesday L’Equipe.

“It is clear that the Russian flag cannot be present at the Paris Games. I think that is the consensus,” Macron said in the interview with the sports newspaper, adding that Moscow “committed war crimes and deported children.” In March, the Criminal Court ruled International arrest warrants were issued against Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others, on charges of illegally deporting hundreds of Ukrainian children.

Although the IOC has not yet sent an invitation to Russia and its ally Belarus to attend the Games, it wants to allow individual athletes from both countries to participate in the Games. Many international sports federations, such as the International Association of Athletics Federations, do not support this.

In response to a question about the possibility of Russian athletes participating individually, the French president said: “I want it to be a joint decision of the Olympic world. It is not the host country that should decide that. I have complete confidence in Thomas Bach. The German Bach is the president of the International Olympic Committee.”

Macron says he understands Russian athletes who train all their lives for the Games and do not approve of war. According to him, it is important to distinguish them from accomplices. Macron said that Ukraine should participate in the talks on this matter. “That’s the balance we have to strike.”(AP)