The Ukrainian ambassador to Austria, Wassyl Chymynez, is calling on Salzburg Festival to cancel the performances of conductor Teodor Currentzis and the MusicAeterna orchestra, which is funded by Putin-funded banks.

The ambassador told the Kronen-Zeitung that a performance by the group would send “a very inhumane signal” and noted that Vladimir Putin knows how to “use art very cleverly.” He also criticized the conductor Currentzis on his silence on the war and said that his silence is “very clear that he tolerates all of this. It shows that he is a part of this whole system. If the Salzburg Festival is not ready to understand that, because perhaps of economic considerations, then those responsible for this institution run the risk of losing their self-esteem.”

It is not the first time the ambassador asks for the orchestra and his conductor to be canceled. Last week, the Wiener Konzerthaus canceled the orchestra’s Ukraine benefit in respect to the wishes of the “Ukrainian Ambassador in Austria who asked to refrain from involving Russian artists in concerts for the benefit of Ukraine.”

Currentzis and his ensemble musicAeterna are financed by the sanctioned Russian VTB Bank, which is closely linked to President Putin.