Russia's sports minister said on February 11 that Ukraine's call to ban Russian athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympics, which has gathered support from dozens of countries, was "unacceptable." "The attempt to dictate the conditions of athletes' participation in international competitions is absolutely unacceptable," Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin was cited as saying by Russian state-run news agencies. Ukraine has reacted furiously to the International Olympic Committee's announcement last month that it was exploring a "pathway" to allow Russian and Belarusian competitors to take part in the Paris Summer Olympics under a neutral flag.