Putin says he's open to Ukraine ceasefire during Paris Olympics

DPA:  Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine more than two years ago, has said that he is open to a ceasefire during the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed in an interview with Ukrainian television that Paris would ask Moscow to agree to a truce for the duration of the Games, set for July 26 to August 11.

In a press conference following his projected re-election on Sunday evening in a vote that was considered neither free nor fair, Putin said he so far not heard of such a proposal by Macron.

"In any case, we will always proceed from Russia's interests and the situation on the battlefield," explained the Kremlin leader.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in July and August as neutral athletes under strict conditions.

The IOC initially banned Russia and its ally Belarus from international sports events after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Putin said such restrictions would distort the meaning of the Olympic movement.

The war started during the United Nations-backed Olympic Truce period, a few days after the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and ahead of Paralympics in the Chinese capital.

Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to negotiations to end the war under certain conditions, including being able to retain the large areas occupied in Ukraine and for Kiev to dissolve its army and renounce any ambitions to join NATO, demands that Kiev has rejected.