Mayor of Paris Says Russian, Belarusian Athletes Not Welcome at Olympics

Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be welcome at the Summer Olympics in Paris, the mayor of the city, Anne Hidalgo, said.

This week, Hidalgo visited Kiev and held talks with the head of the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee, Vadym Guttsait, and the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, as well as with Ukrainian athletes.

"I want to tell Russian and Belarusian athletes that they will not be welcome in Paris. At the same time, I want to tell athletes from Ukraine that we will support them with all our might," Hidalgo was quoted as saying by Le Monde newspaper on Saturday.