The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will maintain its policy of permitting Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international events under a neutral status, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams announced on Tuesday.

When asked about the IOC's stance regarding federations that do not allow Russians to compete in a neutral status, Adams said, "The federations are independent entities and decide their own governance. Our job is to look to participation in the Olympic Games, in the Olympic Winter Games. Now we continue to do our policies, which led to participation of AIN [Individual Neutral Athletes] athletes from Russia and Belarus in Paris and obviously we will continue with our own policies."

Adams made this statement at a press conference following the first day of the IOC Executive Board meeting being held in Lausanne from December 3-5.

Since the onset of Russia's special military operation, Russian athletes have been banned from competing in many international sports events.

According to IOC recommendations, international tournaments cannot be held in Russia. For the Paris Olympic Games, Russian athletes were permitted to compete only under a neutral status, subject to specific conditions.

Earlier this year in March, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said that Russian and Belarusian athletes "were not welcome" at the Olympics that were held in the French capital this year.

"I want to tell Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris and to tell Ukrainian athletes and all the Ukrainian people that we support them very strongly," Hidalgo said in a video posted by Ukrainian YouTube channel, United News.