French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will seek a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas in time for the 2024 Olympics. In this matter, he hopes for the help of international partners, in particular China.
This was stated by the French president in an interview with BFMTV and RMC.
"We want to work on an Olympic truce, and I think thatʼs an opportunity that Iʼll try to get many of our partners involved in," he said.
Macron noted that he would particularly seek help from Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will visit Paris in a few weeks. The French president recalled that his Chinese counterpart had "the same job" in 2022 on the occasion of the Winter Olympics.
Emmanuel Macron believes that the 2024 Olympic Games should be a "moment of diplomatic peace".
- In ancient Greece, during the Olympic Games, all wars stopped and a sacred truce, also known as ekehiria, was declared. In the recent history of the competitions, it was the war that stopped their holding three times. Because of the First World War, the 1916 Games did not take place, the Second World War prevented the Olympics in 1940 and 1944.
- The Soviet Union did not stop the war in Afghanistan during the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, and Russia attacked Georgia in 2008 during the games in Beijing.