Olympics-G7 backed French truce proposal, Italy PM says

Group of Seven leaders unanimously backed a French proposal to include in their summit's final communique a request for a truce in global conflicts during the forthcoming Olympic Games in Paris, the Italian Prime Minister said on Saturday.

Group of Seven leaders unanimously backed a French proposal to include in their summit's final communique a request for a truce in global conflicts during the forthcoming Olympic Games in Paris, the Italian Prime Minister said on Saturday. The French capital will host the Summer Games from July 26 to Aug. 11 and then the Paralympic Games from Aug. 28-Sept. 8, and the G7 leaders urged "all countries to observe the Olympic Truce individually and collectively," their statement said.

"It was a French request, a good request, it was unanimously included," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni -- who chaired the G7 -- told reporters during her final press conference at the luxury resort in southern Italy which hosted the meeting. Seeking to suspend armed conflicts under an Olympic truce is a longstanding tradition and the final communique made reference to a United Nations General Assembly resolution on the topic adopted in November.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in April that he would work to try and obtain ceasefires during the Olympics in Paris, saying he had the Middle East in mind, as well as Ukraine and Sudan. Russia at the time reacted coolly to the proposal to temporarily stop its offensive in Ukraine, saying Kyiv might use it as an opportunity to regroup and rearm.

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