Athletes from the two countries have been largely frozen out of international sport since the invasion of Ukraine last February, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommending their exclusion from competitions.

The IOC has recently moved towards reinstating both countries' competitors under "strict conditions" of neutrality, declaring it will continue to "explore a pathway" for their inclusion and welcoming an Olympic Council of Asia offer for them to participate in its Paris 2024 qualifiers.

This has sparked an angry reaction in Ukraine, and threats of a boycott from it and Latvia.

Polish Sports Minister Kamil Bortniczuk has claimed that up to 40 countries are opposed to the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

A Summit of European Sports Ministers is expected to discuss the issue in Britain on Friday (February 10), according to National Olympic Committee of Ukraine President and Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadym Guttsait.

The ČOV has revealed that it is not considering boycotting next year's Games.

"The Czech Olympic Committee supports the current sanctions for aggression in Ukraine, due to which, on the recommendation of the IOC, Russian and Belarusian athletes in most sports cannot compete in international events," it said.

"We are not thinking about boycotting the Games in Paris."

It explained this by insisting "we will not punish Czech athletes for Russian aggression" and referenced an apology given to athletes in 2014 for Czechoslovakia's participation in a Soviet-led boycott of Los Angeles 1984, as reported by public broadcaster Czech Television.

The ČOV also underlined the autonomy of International Federations on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes, a point emphasised by the IOC.

The IOC has insisted that sanctions including a ban on Russian and Belarusian national symbols are "non-negotiable", and vowed to ensure a "strong team" from Ukraine is present at Paris 2024 and Milan Cortina 2026.

It claims that the "vast majority" of officials it has consulted support its stance, and has warned "a boycott is a violation of the Olympic Charter".

The European Olympic Committees has also publicly expressed support for the IOC's position.

The Czech Republic has competed at every Olympics as an independent nation since the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, sending more than 100 athletes to each of the Summer editions since its debut at Atlanta 1996.

Paris 2024 is set to be be the first under the name of "Czechia", which it adopted in 2016 as a shortened, informal name for the Czech Republic, after it requested the IOC change its name on its international sports database.