Kremlin: No one wants precedent of boycotting Rio Olympic Games

[June 21, 2016]    MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that no one in Russia's leadership wants to create a precedent by boycotting the Olympics in Rio if the International Olympic Committee decides to ban Russian track and field athletes from the Games.

Sport fans buy tickets at the 2016 Rio Olympics ticket office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 20, 2016. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

"I can only say that no one wants to create a precedent like this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with journalists. "President (Vladimir) Putin is a convinced supporter of Olympic ideals, and a convinced enemy of anything that may harm these ideas."

"But beyond all doubt, we intend to defend the interests of our sportsmen - I mean, those sportsmen who are not associated in any way with doping use."

(Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Christian Lowe)

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