Mathematicians are angry that Russia may still host a major conference

Alex Wilkins

The world's largest maths conference is being called off, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The International Congress of Mathematicians gives the Fields medal, the highest honour in mathematics. The event is held every four years and will take place this July in St Petersburg, Russia.

More than 100 invited speakers and mathematical societies around the world called for the conference to be canceled or postponed before the full invasion of Ukraine began.

The letter says that the ICM cannot be held in the context of a potential war that excludes many mathematicians from participating.