--- description: David Cameron says it would be "wrong" to send officials to Russia at this time of tension over Ukraine title: U.K. Ministers to Boycott Paralympics in Sochi image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf195728e5f52ce17/698683763bc99919be1a21bc/paralympics_0303.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [olympics](/tag/olympics/) ## olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.K. Ministers to Boycott Paralympics in Sochi  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 3, 2014 9:15 AM CUT  Sept. 6, 2012 Paralympics - London Great Britain's Sophie Kamlish and Japan's Saki Takakuwa after a race in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London Sept. 6, 2012 Paralympics - London Great Britain's Sophie Kamlish and Japan's Saki Takakuwa after a race in the 2012 Paralympic Games in LondonA Steven Paston / Action Images / ZUMAPRESS.com  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 3, 2014 9:15 AM CUT Not even a feel good event like the Paralympics can bridge the widening chasm between Russia and the West. British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted Monday that U.K. ministers would steer clear of the event so long as the host country, Russia, was mobilizing thousands of troops across Ukraine. “Because of the serious situation in Ukraine,” the tweet read, “[@WilliamJHague](https://twitter.com/WilliamJHague "undefined") & I believe it would be wrong for UK Ministers to attend the Sochi Paralympics.” The New York _Times_ [reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/sports/international/british-officials-to-boycott-sochi-paralympics-over-russian-intervention-in-ukraine.html?hpw&rref=sports "undefined") that Prince Edward, a patron of the British Paralympic Association, has accordingly canceled a planned visit to Russia “on the advice of the government.” \[[New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/sports/international/british-officials-to-boycott-sochi-paralympics-over-russian-intervention-in-ukraine.html?hpw&rref=sports "undefined")_\]_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/11201/u-k-ministers-to-boycott-paralympics-in-sochi/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/11201/u-k-ministers-to-boycott-paralympics-in-sochi/"},"headline":"U.K. Ministers to Boycott Paralympics in Sochi","datePublished":"2014-03-03T09:15:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:32:01.864Z","description":"David Cameron says it would be \"wrong\" to send officials to Russia at this time of tension over Ukraine","url":"https://time.com/11201/u-k-ministers-to-boycott-paralympics-in-sochi/","keywords":["olympics","putin","Ukraine","russia","twitter","Sochi","Boycott","David Cameron","Prime Minister","paralympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf195728e5f52ce17/698683763bc99919be1a21bc/paralympics_0303.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf195728e5f52ce17/698683763bc99919be1a21bc/paralympics_0303.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"paralympics_0303","caption":"Sept. 6, 2012 Paralympics - London Great Britain's Sophie Kamlish and Japan's Saki Takakuwa after a race in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London","creditText":"A Steven Paston / Action Images / ZUMAPRESS.com","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/11201/u-k-ministers-to-boycott-paralympics-in-sochi/","name":"U.K. Ministers to Boycott Paralympics in Sochi"}}]}] ```