MOSCOW -- Russia resolutely condemns any attempts to boycott the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said at the Beijing airport on Tuesday.

"Russia is against a boycott of the Beijing Olympics and considers it unacceptable," Zhukov told Russian journalists on arrival in the Chinese capital.

"We don't welcome attempts at boycotting the Olympics that are a most important world event," Zhukov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Zhukov arrived in the Chinese capital to attend a meeting of the International Olympic Committee's Executive Board, where he is due to report on the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.