Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and King Willem-Alexander will attend the Winter Olympics in Sochi next month, despite the Netherlands' recent troubled relationship with Russia.
Rutte says on Friday he will attend with King Willem-Alexander, an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee, and Queen Maxima.
Leaders of countries including the United States, France and Germany are not going to the Sochi Games, which are a pet project of President Vladimir Putin.
The heavyweight Dutch delegation is visiting Sochi despite calls by rights activists for a boycott and a string of diplomatic incidents in 2013 that overshadowed what was supposed to be a year celebrating Netherlands-Russia ties.
Rutte says his country "has repeatedly voiced concerns about the human rights situation in Russia and will continue to do so."
(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
