Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called counting absentees at the Sochi Olympic Games “foolishness” and “nonsense”, RIA Novosti reports.
Lavrov said that he could not recall any Olympic Games where anyone would count them. He pointed out that 44 state leaders will attend the opening of the Games. Over 60 world leaders will visit Sochi during the Games.
The foreign minister added that it was the International Olympic Committee that invited guests to the Games, not the host. “So those imagining to be personas of world and European politics saying they reject the invitation, in fact, rejected the IOC invitation, and we congratulate them on this,” Lavrov emphasized.
