Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed calls for a boycott of next month's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and called for dialogue with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the eligiblity of Russian athletes at the Games.
Peskov was speaking after it emerged that several Russian Olympic champions, including short track speed skater Viktor Ahn and biathlete Anton Shipulin, along with other medal hopes, will not be allowed to compete in South Korea.
Russia cannot compete as a nation in connection with IOC sanctions over doping schemes in the country at the 2014 Games in Sochi, and the IOC is using strict critiria to determine which Russians can compete as neutral athletes at the Games.
The publication of prominent Russians who have been barred from the February 9-25 event has led to boycott calls but Perkov would have none of it despite the difficult situation.
"At present, it's probably important to avoid such words as 'boycott'," the Tass news agency quoted Peskov as saying.
"In any case, we need to continue dialogue with the IOC. We need to talk to the IOC and defend our rights, if this is possible."
"It is most important to keep a sober approach, first of all, in the interests of our athletes who made the decision on taking part in these Olympic Games, and everyone understood and supported this decision."
Russian speed skating gold medal hopefuls Denis Yuskov and Pavel Kulizhnikov were the latest athletes revealed to be declared not eligible in the IOC review, Russian skating federation president Alexey Kravtsov confirmed.
Both have served doping bans in the past and the IOC has made it clear it is using strict criteria to ensure that only clean Russian athletes compete in Pyeongchang.
The IOC is denying 111 Russian athletes a place from an original list of 500.
The final number of invited Russians is expected to be known after an IOC meeting on Saturday.
