Zelensky Wants 'Complete Isolation' from 2024 Olympics for Russia, Belarus

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to pivot toward "complete isolation" of Russian athletes ahead of the 2024 Olympics in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In a phone call with IOC President Thomas Bach on Wednesday, Zelensky reportedly "expressed disappointment" over the committee's intention to explore the possibility of Russian and Belarusian athletes returning to Olympic competitions under a neutral title. According to NBC Sports, the move was unanimously endorsed by leading Olympic officials at the IOC's summit last week.

Zelensky's office wrote in a release regarding the phone call, however, that the "only fair response" to Russia's war in Ukraine is "complete isolation of the terrorist state on the international stage."

"Since February, 184 Ukrainian athletes have died as a result of Russia's actions," Zelensky said. "One cannot try to be neutral when the foundations of peaceful life are being destroyed and universal human values are being ignored."

The IOC has previously banned Russian athletes from showing any representation of their country after national authorities were caught covering up Russian athletes' doping during the 2014 Winter Olympics. Instead, competitors found to be "clean" were allowed to participate under the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) banner in the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.

The Russian flag and national anthem were banned from the games, replaced with a neutral song and the ROC flag, which displayed the colors of the Russian flag along with the Olympic rings.

If Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, the IOC would likely have stricter regulations regarding neutrality, including banning the countries' colors from being displayed, according to a release from the IOC last week.

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee board chair Susanne Lyons also told NBC that the move to allow a neutral option for Russian and Belarusian athletes is only an idea at the moment.

"We did not agree that the athletes would come back," Lyons said. "We agreed that there would now be an exploration and a consultation with stakeholders to see whether there could be a pathway for those individual athletes to come back as neutrals."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly faced pressure in his homeland to end the war in Ukraine, with some polls showing that 53 percent of Russians think it's time to begin peace negotiations.

However, Putin also told his Human Rights Council last week that his "military operation" in Ukraine would likely take a long time to finish.

Several international sports committees banned Russia from competing shortly after its invasion. The list, compiled by the BBC in March, includes FIFA's banning of the Russian men's soccer team from the 2022 World Cup. World Rugby has also suspended Russia and Belarus from competing in the 2023 World Cup and Formula 1 terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix in September.

Newsweek has reached out to the ROC for comment.