Russia and Belarus will not be invited to participate in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, the International Olympic Committee announced on Thursday, citing the ongoing war in Ukraine.

In total, 203 nations will take part in the Summer Games and will receive their official invitations later this month about one year ahead of the event’s start, according to The Hill.

Although Russia and Belarus will not be invited, athletes from those countries will still be able to compete as neutrals.

The IOC also declined to follow recommendations to exclude those who actively support the invasion of Ukraine or who have ties to Russian or Belarusian military or national security groups.

"The IOC will take this decision at the appropriate time, at its full discretion, and without being bound by the results of previous Olympic qualification competitions," the committee said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently criticized the IOC for recommending that Russian athletes be allowed to compete as neutrals, saying that this would "bring representatives of the terrorist state into world sports."

In a speech in January, he added, "There is no such thing as neutrality when a war like this is going on. And we know how often tyrannies try to use sports for their ideological interests. It is obvious that any neutral flag of Russian athletes is stained with blood."

IOC President Thomas Bach has denied these claims, saying in February: "It is not up to governments to decide who can take part in which sports competitions, because this would be the end of international sports competitions and world championships and the Olympic Games as we know it."

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