The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has confirmed Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete under their national flags at the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina, ending a ban imposed after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The decision, which affects ten qualified athletes from both nations, has drawn a divided international response.
The athletes’ inclusion follows the IPC’s reversal of an earlier ban, a move not supported by a joint statement critical of the policy. That statement was signed by most European Union member states, the European Commission, Japan, South Korea, and Canada, but notably not by the United States.
Paolo Zampolli, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special representative for global partnerships, publicly welcomed the return, stating, “I think sport is for all.” Zampolli’s position aligns with his recent meeting in January with Russia’s sports minister and Paralympic Committee head, Mikhail Degtyarev, where they discussed issues extending beyond sports.
In contrast, Ukraine and the Czech Republic announced they will boycott the Games’ opening ceremony in protest of the Russian and Belarusian participation. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded with sarcasm, while State Duma member and former Olympian Svetlana Zhurova dismissed the boycott as “strange” and unlikely to be noticed.
The controversy exists alongside the separate Winter Olympic Games in the same city, where Russians and Belarusians remain barred from team events, with only a few individual athletes permitted to compete as neutrals. Degtyarev has previously labeled such exclusions as “political discrimination” and a breach of the Olympic Charter. Russian President Vladimir Putin has consistently argued that politics should not interfere with sport, advocating for athlete access based solely on merit.
The IPC maintains that the ten Russian and Belarusian Paralympians will be treated like any other national delegation, a framework that stops short of the full neutral status applied in other international events. This policy shift reopens a contentious chapter in international sport, highlighting the ongoing geopolitical rift and the persistent debate over the place of politics in athletic competition. The participation of athletes from the two nations will be closely watched during the March event in Italy.
