Macron welcomes Nechirvan Barzani in Paris

Shafaq News/ French President Emmanuel Macron received Kurdistan Regional President Nechirvan Barzani at the Élysée Palace on Friday, a brief statement from the Kurdistan Regional Presidency reported.

Barzani arrived in Paris earlier in the day on an official invitation and is set to attend the ongoing Olympic ceremonies.

Details of the talks between Macron and Barzani were not disclosed in the statement.

World leaders are arriving in the city of light for the long-awaited gala opening of the 2024 Paris Games, but Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, is not among them.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will attend the ceremony, under heavy protection, despite protests from Tehran, which on Tuesday called to ban Israel from the Olympics because of the unrelenting bombardment of Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attacks.

No Russian official representing Putin's government has been invited either.

Russia – a long-time Summer Olympics powerhouse – has been banned from the Paris Games in response to Putin's war against Ukraine, now in its third year, although a tiny squad of neutral athletes will represent the country.

Ukraine has yet to announce whether President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the three-hour ceremony.

Ukraine has lobbied hard, since the Russian invasion of February 2022, to ensure athletes from Russia and its closest ally Belarus were barred from taking part in the Games.

US President Joe Biden – who has announced he is dropping his re-election bid and is recovering from Covid – will not fly to Paris, but US First Lady Jill Biden, will attend. 

Experts believe that the Games provide an opportunity for intense diplomatic activity amid wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other places.