Russian and Belarusian athletes will not compete in next year’s Paralympic Winter Games even as neutral participants, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on Thursday after consulting international sports federations.

Both countries were banned from Paralympic events following Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but had regained full IPC membership last month when member organisations voted to lift their partial suspensions. Belarus remains a key staging area for the invasion.

However, the IPC said the qualification process and eligibility for athletes are determined by the international federations that govern each sport on the Paralympic programme.

“In the same way that the IPC fully respects the decision of the IPC General Assembly not to maintain the partial suspensions of NPC Belarus and NPC Russia, we also fully respect the decisions of each international federation regarding the sports they govern,” IPC President Andrew Parsons said in a statement.

Earlier this week, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) voted against allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in qualification events for the Milano Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) confirmed that the Russian and Belarusian federations remain suspended, while World Curling extended its ban on athletes from both nations until the end of the 2024–25 season.

The decision effectively blocks both countries from qualifying for the Games. While they can still compete in Para ice hockey, neither team is part of the qualification tournament scheduled for November.

The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games will be held from March 6 to 15.