The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has eased its recommendations on the participation of both countries' athletes in international sport for the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine, allowing them to participate as individual neutrals provided they have not supported the conflict and are not affiliated to the military.

However, this does not apply to team events.

International Federations for fencing, skateboarding, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon and wrestling have announced their intention to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to their competitions.

Others including athletics, basketball, equestrian, sport climbing and surfing have maintained bans.

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has endorsed the IOC's stance, with Russian and Belarusian players potentially returning at next month's ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Durban.

The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) discussed the situation at its Executive Board meeting in Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo, and has agreed by a majority of votes to join a Working Group with the ITTF and the Russian Table Tennis Federation.

"This Working Group has the objective to evaluate a possible pathway for the return of Russian and Belorussian (sic) players to ETTU competitions under IOC and ITTF recent recommendations," ETTU Acting President Pedro Moura said.

Portuguese official Moura has led the ETTU since March last year, after the self-suspension of Igor Levitin, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moura said in August last year that the ban on Russian and Belarusian players was "the best course to take in order to protect the athletes and ensure the integrity of our ETTU competitions".

World Rowing has agreed a similar course of action, after consultations with National Federations and several Executive Committee discussions.

"The World Rowing Executive Committee has established a Working Group tasked with making recommendations for all relevant World Rowing competitions, including the World Championships, Junior and Youth World Championships, and the World Cup events that will take place in 2023 and 2024," it told Russian state-run news agency TASS.

"The decisions of the Working Group will be made public in due time."

Similar steps have been taken by governing bodies including World Aquatics, which has formed a Task Force to establish a policy on Russia and Belarus.

World Archery has joined International Federations such as World Sailing in confirming a decision is set to be taken at the next meeting of its main decision-making body.

"This issue will be discussed at the next meeting of our Executive Board, which is scheduled for the coming weeks," a World Archery spokesperson told TASS.

World Archery President Uğur Erdener is an IOC member in Turkey.

The IOC has stressed that a decision has not been taken on Russia and Belarus' participation at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

However, Ukraine's Government has threatened that its athletes will boycott events where Russia and Belarus are present.

Critics say there should be no place for Russia and Belarus in sport while the war is ongoing, while Russian officials have criticised a continued ban on their country's national symbols.

The IOC has claimed it has "found some middle ground".