The International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has told Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the Games have a unifying mission after the Ukrainian President called for a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes.Zelenskiy spoke to Bach on the phone yesterday, telling him that he had opposed the idea of Russian athletes taking part under any kind of neutral banner at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, as "all their flags are stained in blood."With the IOC edging towards including Russian and Belarus athletes at the 2024 Games as neutrals, Bach told Zelenskiy that the Olympics were not about exclusion."In the call, the Ukrainian President requested the full isolation of Russia and Russians from the world community," the IOC said in a statement."From his point of view, this must also apply to athletes."In this context, the IOC President explained the unifying mission of the IOC and the Olympic Games enshrined in the Olympic Charter."At the end of this open and constructive discussion, both presidents agreed to stay in contact."Earlier this week the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee endorsed exploring the possibility of Russian and Belarusian athletes featuring in the Games, but said they must do so strictly as neutral competitors.Bach had said last week that while IOC sanctions against Russia and Belarus remain in place, the "protective measures" of not letting their athletes compete in international competitions to protect the events' integrity were another matter.Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, many sports bodies have moved events and suspended Russian teams or athletes while sponsors ended contracts in protest against the war.The IOC had also recommended that events in Russia be cancelled or