President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will not be able to address the audience of Saturday's Eurovision final in Liverpool.
The European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the contest, said it had rejected the President's Office's request for a broadcast.
"The Eurovision Song Contest is an international entertainment show and is governed by strict rules, one of which is the non-political nature of the event. This rule prohibits political or other similar statements made within the framework of the contest," the union said in a statement.
The statement added that Zelensky's request to address the audience during the contest "unfortunately cannot be accepted, as it would contradict the rules of the event."
Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Zelensky's spokesman, Serhiy Nikiforov, said that the President's Office "did not approach the organizers" of Eurovision with a proposal to perform during the final or "at any other stage of the contest."
Background. Earlier, Zelensky was denied a video address to the audience during the Oscars.