Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dymytro Kuleba has hit out at IOC President Thomas Bach ©Getty Images

Ukraine has warned international sports bodies against the "sickening" prospect of allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in international competitions - including the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

"Since February, Russia has killed 184 Ukrainian athletes… Using sports to whitewash war crimes is sickening," Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, said on Twitter.

He also referred to the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach's recent referral to a comment by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and subsequent assertion that "athletes from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine should be treated equally."

Kuleba's comments followed a decision taken by the Olympic Summit in Lausanne, chaired by Bach, to "explore" the offer by the Olympic Council for Asia to enable Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in its competitions.

In the past week, Bach has warmed to the theme of keeping politics out of sport.

Regarding the exclusion of athletes from major events solely because of their nationality, the German official has insisted the international sports community should "explore ways to overcome this dilemma."

Bach cited in defence of his stance the recent remarks by Macron, who said last month that sport "should not be politicised," adding:

"Specifically mentioning the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024, he [Macron] underlined that such major events are meant to allow athletes from all countries, sometimes including countries at war, to live their sport."

On February 28, four days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, the IOC recommended that International Federations ban Russian and Belarus officials and athletes, although they later said the reference to the athletes was made as a "protective measure".

Speaking in Lausanne after a three-day IOC Executive Board meeting, Bach said: "The participation of athletes in sports events can only be on sporting merit and with those athletes who respect the rules of sport.

"We cannot allow Governments to decide on political grounds who can participate.

"This would put the international sports model at risk, and we will never accept that.

"The question of the participation of athletes is very different from the question of sanctions for their Government."