Following a side-meeting at the G8 Summit in Ireland on Monday, President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin decided that their two nations should join efforts in order to ensure the safety and security of athletes, officials, fans, and world leaders at next year’s Olympics.
“The United States and Russia intend to continue to develop their counterterrorism partnership with the business community, including in the field of protecting the tourist sector,” the two world leaders explained in a joint statement Monday.
“Providing security for major sporting and public events, including the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, is to be an important area of interaction.”
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said back in April, days after the Boston Marathon bombings, that Sochi officials are “beefing up” security even more than the already stringent precautions that were in full-effect at Olympic test events earlier this year, which many deemed excessive.
President Obama reiterated that sentiment at a news conference after the meeting, thanking President Putin for his cooperation with the Boston Marathon bombings and adding that the two countries had a “shared interest in countering terrorist violence, and we are continuing to strengthen our cooperation on this issue, including as we welcome Russia hosting the Winter Olympics in Sochi.”
