Russian and Belarusian athletes who qualify in their sport for the Paris 2024 Olympics can take part as neutrals, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said.
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They will have to compete without flags, emblems or anthems at the event next year, however, the IOC said on Friday.
Russians and Belarusians had initially been banned from competing internationally following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, for which Belarus has been used as a staging ground.
In March, however, the IOC issued a first set of recommendations for international sports federations to allow Russian and Belarusian competitors to return and they have since done so in most events.
Athletics, the Games' biggest sport, is unlikely to open the door for them to return to competition, however, after banning them following the invasion and sticking to the suspension on Friday.
Ukraine and Russia both condemned the decision, for contrasting reasons.
The IOC said in a statement: "The Executive Board has decided that Individual Neutral Athletes who have qualified through the existing qualification systems of the International Federations on the field of play will be declared eligible to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
"Individual Neutral Athletes are athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport."
It also said no Russian or Belarusian government or state official would be invited to or accredited for Paris 2024.
But athletes, it added, should not be punished for the actions of their governments.
"The protection of the rights of individual athletes to participate in competitions despite the suspension of their National Olympic Committee is a well-established practice, respecting human rights," the IOC said.
Ukraine has opposed the presence of Russian competitors, even as neutrals, at the Paris Olympics.
The neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus will only compete in individual sports and no teams for the two countries will be allowed to participate in Paris.
The IOC also said athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine will not be eligible while any support personnel who do so will also not be entered.
However, Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, described the decision as "shameful".
"The IOC essentially gave Russia the green light to weaponise the Olympics," he said on X.
"Because the Kremlin will use every Russian and Belarusian athlete as a weapon in its propaganda warfare. I urge all partners to strongly condemn this shameful decision, which undermines Olympic principles."
Russia's sports minister, Oleg Matytsin, called the conditions set by the IOC for Russian athletes' participation "discriminatory".
"Participation in the Olympics is an athlete's dream. But the conditions are discriminatory and go against the principles of sports," he was quoted by TASS news agency.
"By doing so, they harm the Olympic Games themselves, and not Russian sports. The approach is absolutely unacceptable."
Out of 4,600 athletes globally who have qualified for the Paris Games so far, eight are Russians and three hold Belarusian passports.
More than 60 Ukrainians have qualified. A total of 11,000 competitors will take part at the Games next year.
World Athletics confirmed on Friday that its ban would remain, in response to the IOC decision.
World Athletics said: "Our position on Russian participation remains the same and has been very clear from the outset: all athletes, support personnel and officials from Russia and Belarus are excluded from all World Athletics Series events, and from hosting any International or European athletics events.
"We will continue to monitor the situation, but unless there is a major change in circumstances between now and the Olympic Games, this exclusion will apply to Paris 2024."
Australian Associated Press
