UK seeks to form coalition aimed at isolating Russia from world sports events
March 3, 2022, 7:47 am

UK seeks to form coalition aimed at isolating Russia from world sports events

UK-City of Liverpool-City center/Pixabay

The Straits Times reported, citing Reuters, British sports minister Nigel Huddleston and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries will host a summit with counterparts from Europe, the US, Australia and Canada on Thursday (March 3) to discuss further measures aimed at isolating Russia from world sports events.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said in a statement on Wednesday that the British government plans to create a coalition with the aim of putting pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The DCMS statement added that the coalition's goals are to strip Russia and Belarus of hosting rights for international sporting events, ban their teams and athletes from competition, and take tough action on sport-related investments with links to Russia.

The report said that Belarus has been a key staging area for Russia's invasion.

The department said: "The government wants to ensure the Russian state cannot use sport to legitimise its regime in any way and is asking domestic sporting bodies and international partners to leave no stone unturned."

Russian assaults on Ukraine (File photo: Euromaidan Press )

"Putin's Russia must not be allowed to compete in international sport in any form given his needless and horrific attack on Ukraine.

According to the report, Russia, with the support of Belarus, began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last week. The war's toll is increasingly dealing a heavy blow to civilians, with Ukrainian authorities estimating more than 2,000 civilians have been killed so far.

World sport governing bodies have started taking action against Russia and Belarus following the International Olympic Committee's recommendation that federations ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from competing.

WHO warns Russia-Ukraine conflict could increase large numbers of severe COVID disease

It should be noted that the European countries participating in the summit are Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Latvia, Italy, Finland, the Czech Republic and Norway.

Source: straitstimes

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.