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Winter Olympic Games in Beijing

State Department coordinating US crusade to discredit Beijing Olympics, intel chief says

The idea of a diplomatic boycott is essentially meaningless and completely contradicts the spirit of the Olympic movement, Sergey Naryshkin pointed out

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. Russia possesses information on a campaign against the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics launched by the US and some of its allies with the Department of State playing a major role, Chairman of the Russian Historical Society, Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin told journalists on Tuesday.

"I must say that we have quite a lot of information about the massive campaign of aggressive and malicious interference in the preparations for the Beijing Olympics launched by the United States and its most odious and obedient allies," he said. "We see them trying to discredit the organizers of the Olympic Games in Beijing. The US Department of State, which coordinates all anti-China activities on Olympic issues for NGOs and media under its control, plays a major role in this crusade," he explained.

"To be honest, we don’t see anything new in this practice. The exact same various methods were used by our detractors prior to the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014," the SVR chief added.

He emphasized that the idea of a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics is fundamentally futile. "The idea of a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games is essentially meaningless and completely contradicts the spirit of the Olympic movement and the ‘sports and politics don’t mix’ motto of Olympians," he noted.

The SVR head expressed confidence that "all those who cherish the ideals of sports, the ideals of humanism, universal human values, will, of course, express their solidarity with the athletes, with the coaches, with all the participants and organizers of the upcoming Olympic Games." "And the civilized part of mankind will follow with joy this tremendous celebration of peace and sports which will open in Beijing very soon," he concluded.

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United States Sergey Naryshkin Winter Olympic Games in Beijing

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