The depute leader of Edinburgh City Council has called for all Russian Government-supported artists, actors and musicians to be banned from performing in the capital.
It comes nearly three weeks into the country's invasion of Ukraine, which Councillor Cammy Day, Labour, described as "horrific and illegal".
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Councillor Day — who has taken part in several protests outside Edinburgh's Russian Consulate in recent weeks — said the council has to take "every step we can" to make the city's opposition to the war as clear as possible.
This includes putting a stop to any cultural events in Edinburgh that have links with Vladimir Putin's regime, he added.
"Whilst I have sympathy for performances and the culture and arts world, I think it's absolutely the right thing to take a strong line," Cllr Day said.
"Edinburgh will not engage with anything that's funded and supports the Russian regime. And if that makes an impact on arts and culture then that might make some of the Russian community stand up against their own government and say: 'This is unacceptable, it's damaging our cultural reputation across the world'."
In the days after troops crossed the Ukrainian border last month, the Edinburgh Festival announced it was cutting ties with Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, a supporter of President Putin, whilst performances by the Russian State Ballet of Siberia planned for this month at the Playhouse were also cancelled.
In a motion submitted ahead of a full council meeting on Thursday (March 17), Councillor Day will look to formally ban all Russian Government-supported arts and cultural events and performances in Edinburgh Council-owned venues.
If passed, the council will also look to encourage other venues in the city to follow suit until the invasion is over.
The depute leader is also calling for support and cooperation with the city's Russian Consulate to be withdrawn, and for all Russian Diplomats to be expelled from Edinburgh "until Russian troops vacate Ukraine".
He said: "As representatives of the Russian Government, they're not welcome in the capital city whilst their Government is still engaged in an illegal war.
"It's one of the many things that the Ukranian community here in Edinburgh have asked us to do, we're not just making these things up - these are things that the Ukranian people have asked us to do and the Consul himself has asked us.
"It shows a sign of solidarity and support that we're doing as the Ukranian people want; to expel Russian Government officials from our city to end any financial relationships we might have with Russian organisations or those funding them and I think that's absolutely what we're doing and we're encouraging the rest of the country to do."
Cllr Day added the council is also looking into Russian money and assets in Edinburgh, adding that officials "haven't unearthed anything that the council or any of its partners are directly involved in supporting or funding".
Meanwhile, councillors are set to award the Freedom of the City — Edinburgh's most prestigious honour — to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vitaliy Klitschko, the Mayor of Edinburgh's twin city Kyiv, for their "leadership and heroism".
Councillor Day said: "We've got long-standing reputation and support for them and to see one of our sister cities being attacked by the Russians is just shocking and distressing for everybody involved.
Recalling a recent conversation with a Ukranian friend, who now lives in London but still has family in Kharkiv, he added: "His mother and brother are living in a bunker underground and they have water and they bake bread in the underground tunnels.
"They're frightened to leave because they don't know what will happen, if they'll get shot. His granny, who's 94 and lives in a village outside there is frightened to open her curtains because the tanks are rolling past her house every day.
"My heart goes out to all those people in Ukraine who have been illegally attacked by the warmongers from Russia."
