A file photo of the five Olympic rings installed in front of the Sochi Airport, Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Russian lawmakers and members of the countryâ„¢s National Olympic Committee have criticized a US senator for suggesting a boycott of the 2014 Winter Games in Russia.
In an interview with The Hill newspaper on Wednesday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, if Russian authorities granted asylum to American whistleblower and former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden.
Later in the day, the Russian Federal Migration Service confirmed receiving Snowdenâ„¢s request for temporary asylum, saying it would have up to three months to decide on the application.
But even with the whistleblowerâ„¢s fate yet undecided, several Russian officials immediately slammed Grahamâ„¢s call for boycott as a return to the Cold War era.
Grahamâ„¢s statement takes the two countries back to the time of tit-for-tat boycotts, said Aleksey Pushkov, who heads the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee.
“I am sure that these times are over and difficult periods in relations must not bring the nations to the worst times of the Cold War,” he added.
Vasily Shestakov, a member of the Lower House Committee for Sports, voiced confidence that the US authorities would ignore Grahamâ„¢s statement, which even failed to receive support from other congressmen.
Å“I hope that certain politicians in the United States would stop making populist statements and start thinking more about their own citizens,” Shestakov said, noting that the boycott would most of all hurt the athletes looking forward to the games.
Meanwhile, Russian Senator Ruslan Gattarov stated that Grahamâ„¢s call showed Washingtonâ„¢s failure to influence other countries through its military.
Gattarov described the move as yet another blow to Washingtonâ„¢s effort to portray itself as Å“a beacon of democracy,” an image already tarnished by Snowdenâ„¢s revelations of the NSAâ„¢s massive espionage operations across the world.
The honorary president of the Russian Olympics Committee, Vitaly Smirnov, said boycotts were banned under the Olympics rules, explaining that it was an unprecedented move to boycott a sports event and openly state the political motives for the decision.
Å“I can only feel sorry for the people who influence the Congressâ„¢ decision, this unhealthy reaction of certain people must not be supported by the whole nation,” Smirnov said.
MRS/SS/HMV
Republished with permission from: Press TV