The UK Government has been urged to block a Russian-owned oil tanker due in Orkney within days.
Owned by Sovcomflot (SCF Group), a shipping company majority-owned by the Russian state, it is scheduled to dock at Flotta terminal on Tuesday.
However, politicians have slammed the prospect given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The UK has already imposed further sanctions on the Putin regime and calls have been made to stop Sovcomflot.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Orkney MP Alistair Carmichael said it was “imperative … that you should act without delay to ensure that Sovcomflot is sanctioned and denied access for their vessels to British ports”.
Angus Robertson, Scotland's cabinet secretary for external affairs, told BBC Scotland's Sunday Show: "The UK authorities have got a big decision to take, on whether we are going to allow Russian-owned or charted vessels to dock in UK ports.
"The Scottish government is in discussions with the UK authorities about this particular case but there will be others.
"This is a very fast moving situation and we're going to have to act decisively in my view."
A spokesman for Orkney Islands Council said: "As a council we are in an extremely difficult position.
"We recognise the strength of feeling around this - feelings that we share - but we are bound by our legal obligations to accept the vessel, until such a time as the UK government tells us otherwise."
A UK government spokesman said: "We are aware of concerns about Russian-connected ships potentially docking in the UK and we are working rapidly to explore a range of measures to restrict access for them.
"We are already discussing this issue with the Scottish government and the sanctions being considered are part of a wider package being worked up across the UK government."
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