Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy: There's 'No Place' for Russia at 2024 Paris Olympics

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the International Olympic Committee to ban Russia and ally Belarus from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

"While Russia kills and terrorizes, representatives of the terrorist state have no place at sports and Olympic competitions," Zelenskyy told a summit of sports officials on Friday, per the Associated Press.

The IOC has avoided banning the athletes but instead wants them to compete in a neutral capacity without national symbols.

Zelenskyy argued this doesn't go far enough:

"And it cannot be covered up with some pretended neutrality or a white flag. Because Russia is now a country that stains everything with blood — even the white flag. It must be recognized. And this must be recognized, in particular, at the level of the International Olympic Committee. The International Olympic Committee needs honesty. Honesty it has unfortunately lost. Honesty that will help stop Russian terror and bring peace closer."

A group of 35 countries, including the United States, joined Ukraine in calling for a ban of Russia and Belarus from the Olympics.

Russia's military forces first attacked Ukraine in February 2022 and the military conflict has continued for the past year, with Russian forces executing a wave of attacks on Friday, per Susie Blann of the Associated Press.

Several international sporting bodies banned Russia from inclusion in major events over the past year, including the men's World Cup and the IIHF Hockey World Championships.

Russian athletes already competed as neutrals during the 2022 Winter Olympics because of sanctions from the World Anti-Doping Agency. None of the 204 athletes could wear the national flag or hear the national anthem during the medal ceremony, instead competing under the ROC moniker (Russian Olympic Committee).

The athletes also competed under ROC at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

National leaders believe this option isn't a strong enough message this time around and are seeking a full ban.

"We will not parade a country that is attacking another and pretend it does not exist," Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said last week.