MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl told TASS that it was ‘nonsense’ in her opinion to bar Russian athletes from international tournaments, because, according to her, cultural and sports interaction is the tool to restore relations between countries.

"This is nonsense. This is a very unpleasant aspect," she said. "As I’ve repeatedly stated - if you want to start any kind of normal relationship, begin with the technical side of it."

"Let athletes, artists, students do their work and be engaged in their arts, their creative activities, their sports, because it’s the way it should be," Kneissl added.

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

At its session on January 25, 2023, the IOC Executive Board put forward a proposal to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions.

Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status.