Eurovision logo
Eurovision logoiStock

Ukraine will not send a representative to participate in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, it was announced Wednesday.

On Monday, pop singer Maruv, who had won the popular vote to represent Ukraine at Eurovision, withdrew from the competition after she was asked by the national broadcaster UA:PBC to sign a contract stipulating that she would not perform any concerts in Russia prior to the contest.

Relations between Russia and Ukraine have been in crisis since the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and the conflict between government forces and pro-Russia rebels in Ukraine.

Maruv refused to agree to the broadcaster's demand. "I am a musician, rather than a tool of the the political stage," she wrote in her announcement.

The broadcaster attempted to contact two other bands to take Maruv's place in the contest, but formally announced that Ukraine would not participate in this year's Eurovision contest.

The Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Tel Aviv this May.