Olympics 2026: Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini expressed his hope on Tuesday that Russian and Ukrainian athletes might compete in the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics next year, if their nations have stopped fighting.

Salvini, leader of the far-right League party and a junior partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, made the remarks during the inauguration of the Winter Olympics bobsleigh track in Cortina d’Ampezzo. He suggested that if peace talks between Russia and Ukraine continue to progress, the 2026 Winter Olympics could be a moment for athletes from both nations to come together in the spirit of the games.

“With peace talks ongoing and the Olympic spirit striving to unite people and athletes, I hope that the Milan-Cortina Olympics will be the first to witness athletes from both Russia and Ukraine gracing the slopes,” Salvini said. “After the war, to witness athletes from the world coming onto the 1,700-meter track will be a little piece of peace, and that will be the most significant thing.”

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Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia and its ally Belarus have been excluded from hosting international sports events, and their flags, anthems, and officials are excluded from the majority of competitions. Just 15 Russian athletes took part in the Paris Olympics last year, under strict terms, competing under a neutral flag and showing no affiliation to the military or security services.

Salvini proposed that the same deal could be struck for the Milan-Cortina Games, which will run from February 6-22, 2026, in northern Italy.

Though Salvini has in the past shown admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, he has since distanced himself from this opinion since the beginning of the Ukraine war. Though Prime Minister Meloni has been a firm ally of Ukraine, Salvini has tried to cap Italy’s military support to Kyiv, though he has not stopped it.

Earlier this month, Salvini condemned French President Emmanuel Macron for suggesting that troops be sent to observe a possible peace deal in Ukraine as “crazy.” On Tuesday, Salvini reaffirmed that “Europe should be a protagonist of peace.”

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