The Ukrainian government asks its athletes not to fraternize with the Russians during the Beijing Olympics (February 4-20), when Westerners accuse Moscow of wanting to launch an offensive against its neighbor. “ We held a videoconference on patriotism and gave recommendations on how to behave: do not stand next to Russian sportsmen, do not take photos with them “, declared the Minister of Sports Vadym Gouttsaït in an interview published on Wednesday February 2 on the sports information site tribuna.ua, saying that he feared “ Provocation towards Ukrainian athletes. After a pro-Western revolution in Kiev, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014. Soon after, an insurgency broke out by Moscow-sponsored separatists who control part of eastern Ukraine. The conflict claimed more than 13,000 lives and has never completely ceased. Russia is now accused by the West of having massed tens of thousands of soldiers on the border of its neighbor in anticipation of a possible invasion. Moscow denies any bellicose intentions, but conditions the de-escalation on a list of requirements, necessary according to it to guarantee its security, in particular the assurance that Ukraine will never be a member of NATO and that the Alliance withdraws its men on its 1997 positions.