Russian parliament speaker opposes boycotting Beijing Olympic Games

MOSCOW, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of Russia's Federation Council, upper house of the parliament, Sergei Mironov on Wednesday expressed objection to boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games, saying it's a setback of Cold War mentality.

The world community will not "listen to the noise of boycotting the Beijing Olympics ... instead, we will see a magnificent sports event and share the great spirit of Olympics," Russian news agencies cited Mironov as saying.

The recent riots in China's Tibet are well hatched actions aimed to undermine the Games and defame China, which will have negative impact on the Olympics, he said.

The Olympic torch relay was successfully held in Russia's St. Petersburg last Saturday. Each of the 80 torch bearers ran about 250 meters in the third leg of the flame's global tour.

Other senior Russian lawmakers and officials, such as Speaker of the State Duma, lower house of the parliament, Boris Gryzlov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have also denounced the proposal of boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games.