Russian and Belarusian athletes will not participate in next year's Paralympic Winter Games, even as neutral competitors, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Thursday after consultation with the international federations.

Both countries were banned from Paralympic competitions after Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but regained full membership rights in the International Paralympic Committee after member organisations voted to lift their partial suspensions last month. Belarus is a key staging area for the invasion.

However, the international federation for each sport on the Paralympic Games programme is responsible for determining the qualification pathway for its sport, as well as the eligibility of athletes to compete.

"In the same way that the IPC fully respects t

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