23 March 2017, 15:27 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier Thursday, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) suggested Channel One to arrange a satellite broadcast of Samoilova's performance so that she could still take part in Eurovision despite an entry ban to Ukraine.
"Channel One acted in full accordance with the rules of Eurovision and chose the participant of the contest, which is registered by the EBU and remains the current contestant… According to the rules of Eurovision, the broadcasting country should provide all participants the opportunity to receive an entry visa for the entire period of the event," the channel said.
"We consider the offer of remote participation to be strange and reject it, because it certainly contradicts the very idea of the event, whose strict rule is live performance on the stage of Eurovision," it said.
