Russian and Belarusian climbers hoping to compete will have to obtain "neutral licences" under the rules agreed by the IFSC Executive Board.

They will then be able to apply to compete in IFSC competitions next year but Dmitry Bychkov, the President of the Russian Climbing Federation, said this would be too late to qualify for the Olympics in Paris.

Sport climbing has become the latest sport to announce a pathway for the return of Russians and Belarusians, amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

It comes after an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board recommendation in March, which said that individual Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to return to competition, if they are not openly in support of the invasion or affiliated to the military.

This rolled back the original IOC stance after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion in February 2022, which called for an outright ban.

The IFSC stance was based on the recommendations of a task force which was appointed on May 10 and included the President of the Oceania Council Naomi Cleary, the President of the Athletes' Commission Shauna Coxsey and research and development director Silvia Verdolini. 

Recommendations were presented on June 7 following a month of consultation which included meetings with the Athletes' Commission and other stakeholders, including representatives of the IOC, major event organisers and the Ukrainian Mountaineering and Climbing Federation.

As with other sports, the IFSC has insisted that it still supports Ukrainian athletes but has argued that sport and politics must be kept separate. 

Initially, the IFSC had opted to keep its ban in place in April, amid "monitoring" of the situation.

"The Task Force considered it vital to find practical solutions to the concerns raised by athletes, National Federations and event organisers through a broad consultation process," said Cleary.

Marco Scolaris, the IFSC President, added: "The decision to initiate the process of reinstating athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports was not an easy one and was not taken lightly.

"Without hesitation, I say that the IFSC remains firm condemning the Russian aggression to Ukraine and continues to stand by our Ukrainian National Federation and climbers, and the Ukrainian people.

"At the same time, we consider the mission of sport and the politicisation of the athletes. 

"We believe in the values of Olympism and inclusion, but we listen to the pressures of many Governments. 

"We are also aware that - tragically - more than one hundred armed conflicts are more or less raging around the globe.

"Therefore, we tried to find a balance between the different positions and create a system which can be implemented fairly in the future also for conflicts in different areas."

Despite the decision on athletes, the Russian Climbing Federation and the Belarus Alpine Federation remain suspended.

Officials, including route setters and judges, will remain banned.

Bychkov told Russia's official state news agency TASS that the country's climbers should be able to return now instead of waiting until next year.

"We do not agree with this state of affairs and believe that if the decision has already been made, then the procedure could start right now," he said. 

"There is no real need to wait for 2024, there are no global processes that IFSC needs another six months to launch. 

"At the same time, I can note that in the current situation, the dialogue with the IFSC is not lost, it exists, and therefore we were waiting for completely different decisions.

"Unfortunately, in practice, even the March recommendations of the IOC in relation to climbers have not been implemented. 

"In fact, we were simply deprived of the opportunity to participate in the Olympics in Paris, this is a direct violation of the Olympic Charter. 

"We are in constant contact with the Russian Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, together we are making all necessary efforts to ensure that our athletes participate in international competitions and have the opportunity to represent Russia at major competitions without discrimination."