Russia and Belarus have been largely frozen out of international sport since the widely-condemned invasion of Ukraine in February, with the majority of International Federations adhering to IOC recommendations that their athletes are excluded from international sport.

The IOC has insisted that this is a "protective measure", and entertained a proposal at the Olympic Summit earlier this month to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals at Olympic Council of Asia qualifying events.

However, it has said that sanctions against both countries, including a ban on national symbols and events not being held in Russia or Belarus, should remain in place.

In remarkable comments made to state-owned news channel Russia-24, Chernyshenko accused the IOC of pandering to the US.

"Unfortunately, the IOC is not an independent organisation," he claimed.

"As we can see, they are subject to direct influence from the US State Department and act absolutely on their orders.

"They adopted a resolution with one hand that the necessary measures should be taken for the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes, though without a flag and an anthem.

"They understand that their product sags and degrades very much without our participation."

Chernyshenko added that he believed the IOC wanted to "please their foreign masters", but expressed "hope that our athletes will be able to participate in the Olympic Games."

insidethegames has asked the IOC for a response to Chernyshenko's comments.

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) was a participant at the Olympic Summit, along with the Russian Olympic Committee and Chinese Olympic Committee.

The outcome of the Olympic Summit was heavily criticised in Ukraine, but the USOPC's outgoing chair Susanne Lyons said participants agreed that the IOC could explore a return for Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutrals "in the best long-term interest of the Movement".

Chernyshenko was President of the Organising Committee for Sochi 2014, Bach's first Olympics after being elected as head of the IOC in the previous year.

He became Russia's Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for Tourism, Sport, Culture and Communications in 2020.

Chernyshenko had the Olympic Order which was awarded to him in 2014 removed in February as part of the sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and deputy chief of staff of the Presidential Executive Office Dmitry Kozak also had the Olympic Order withdrawn.

In May, Bach admitted "our relationship with the Russian political leadership has dramatically deteriorated over the past years", and claimed it had been responsible for "personal threats to individuals from the IOC and Olympic Movement".

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin concurred with Chernyshenko's suggestion that international sport has been hampered by the absence of Russia and Belarus, arguing it would be in the IOC's interest for both countries to return.

"Bach said at the G20 that it is unacceptable to exert political pressure, but in fact we see that this pressure continues," Matytsin told Russia-24.

"It is important that Russian and International Federations maintain a dialogue, they are trying to find ways for Russians to participate in competitions.

"The IOC is now also looking for an independent role.

"If it solves the problem of participation of Russians in the Olympics together with the Federations and does not allow the politicisation and discrimination of Russian sports, from my point of view, this will strengthen its position".

Bach has sought to blame Governments who "started to decide which athletes would be allowed to participate in international sports competitions" for the recommendations issued on February 28, just four days after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

He has insisted that "we need to explore ways to overcome this dilemma with regard to athletes’ participation".