Does Ukraine need an Olympic truce? Experts’ answer
17 May 2024 16:38
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he did not believe in the idea of an Olympic truce, which France is trying to promote. He said this during a conversation with journalists, reports
The Supreme Commander-in-Chief noted that any agreements with Russia are impossible. He is confident that Russia will definitely use the ceasefire to its advantage.
“We have already had a ceasefire, but it does not work well with this enemy. In addition, there is a risk: who will record that during the ceasefire their forces will not approach us? The ceasefire does not prevent equipment from moving closer and then launching an offensive. I mean, I don’t understand the details. For me, so far, it sounds like a lifeless story,”
– zelensky said.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been talking a lot about the Olympic truce lately. He claims that he will ask Putin to stop the fighting during the Olympic Games in Paris, which are due to take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024.
Political analyst Ihor Reiterovych believes that the discussion is, to a certain extent, meaningless, as there will be no truce anyway. According to him, during such steps between the warring parties, there should be a third party that will act as a guarantor of compliance with the agreements. Currently, there is no such guarantor.
“Macron’s statement was expected because he, as the leader of the country hosting the Olympics, had to say something about it. But he did not mention any specific guarantee mechanism for Ukraine or, as strange as it may sound, for Russia. Therefore, there is no point in even discussing this. It is enough to ask one question: who will control the observance of this truce by both sides and the absence of any advances or redeployment of equipment?”
– said the political scientist.
Therefore, he believes that Ukraine should proceed from the fact that no truce is possible.
“The best option for us is that we do not talk about a truce, do not think about it, and do not come up with such initiatives, simply because it is impossible to implement in practice. If, for example, the idea emerges that China or some other country will take on guarantees and act as a kind of mediator, that’s another story. But so far, there have been no such initiatives from any country, apart from statements about the need for a truce,”
– said Reuters.
As for Zelensky’s words that Russia will use the ceasefire to bring in equipment, political analyst Ruslan Bortnik said that no one is preventing Ukraine from doing the same. Moreover, the expert believes that during the 10 years of war, it was Ukraine that used the ceasefire period more effectively.
“Remember what our soldiers were like in Crimea in 2014: in shabby Soviet uniforms, unarmed. And what the little green men were like opposite them. And think back to 2022, when the Ukrainian soldier was in no way different from the Russian soldier for the worse, and sometimes even different for the better, in terms of equipment and training. That’s why the 8 years of the first truce played into our hands,”
– he says.
The political scientist believes that there is no reason to expect that the next truce will play against us. After all, Russia is under unprecedented sanctions, and the world is open to Ukraine: for cooperation, modernisation, upgrades, arms accumulation, etc.
The expert also argues that it will be difficult for Ukraine to abandon the Olympic truce if its partners really embrace the idea.
“To reject the Olympic truce proposal, especially if it comes from our Western allies, such as France, would mean worsening relations with our allies and increasing the likelihood that an alternative peace plan will emerge in the West. For example, the same France that once promised China to prepare its own peace plan,”
– said Ruslan Bortnik.
The Olympic Games
The Ancient Olympic Games were sports competitions held in ancient Greece from 776 BC to 393 AD. During this time, 293 competitions were held. Among other things, the Olympic Games symbolised the unity of the Greek city-states and were an important cultural phenomenon in ancient Greek society.
The Ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia in the historical region of Elida in the north-west of the Peloponnese. During the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, any wars between the Greek states were suspended for two months and a sacred truce, the ekehiria, was established. During this time, it was forbidden to enter the territory of the whole of Elida with weapons.
The modern Olympic Games under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee were first held in 1896 in Athens.
The XXXIII Summer Olympic Games will be held from 26 July to 11 August 2024 in Paris. The International Olympic Committee has allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under neutral status. For them, the IOC has developed several additional criteria that establish that a particular Russian athlete does not support Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine. According to recent reports, there may be about 40 such athletes. Ukraine condemns this decision.
