Jelena Valbe admits Putin's latest move is devastating

Skip head: Jelena Valbe wears a Putin shirt during a meeting with VG in 2017. Photo: Bjørn S. Delebek / VG

Vladimir Putin’s escalation of the war in the past two weeks has made it impossible for Russian skaters to participate in a neutral situation.

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It appears from an interview given by Russian ski chief Yelena Valpi TV match.

Russian runners have been banned from entering the Islamic Salvation Front since March 1, but in the Russian media this has been portrayed as a hope that they will be able to return next winter.

This hope, Valby now admits, is not very realistic from the week of the FIS meeting in Zurich:

– I had a private meeting with the president of the International Ski Federation. Before the mobilization and referendums, a neutral position was being considered for our athletes, but now this is out of the question. This situation greatly complicated the return of Russian athletes, says Yelena Valbe, and thus admits that it is extremely unlikely that Russia will ever go into heat again.

Last Wednesday, Vladimir Putin ordered a “partial mobilization” and plans to bring in 300,000 new soldiers. Last weekend there were “referendums” in four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, and on Friday Putin is set to incorporate these regions of Russia itself into what the West considers annexation.

Escalation: In the past two weeks, Vladimir Putin has taken new steps in the Ukraine war. Photo: Sputnik / Reuters

– But we are optimists, we believe in the best. Everyone is already starting to count the losses. Obviously, the interest in competitions is less due to the absence of Russia.

We hope common sense prevails, adds Valpi R Sport.

For the Norwegian Ski Federation, it was a surprise that Russian and Belarusian representatives appeared in Zurich. In a press release on Wednesday evening, Norway condemned the participation of Russia and Belarus in the FIS meetings. The Norwegian Ski Association has Withdraw from meetings In Switzerland as a result of the invitation of the FIS Russian representatives. Naturally, this also became a problem in the Russian media.

Välbe tells Match TV:

– The Norwegians wrote that they boycotted the coming here because of the presence of the Russian delegation on the committee. Yelena Valbe says they are here, talking and hugging.