The Pink Floyd legend was invited by Russia to address the UN Security Council. Ukraine’s representative was not impressed.
The somewhat absurd session took place during the meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday. Roger Waters was invited by Russia to speak about the war in Ukraine.
Waters has come under heavy criticism lately, especially after an interview he did with Germany’s Berliner Zeitung, which he himself published on his own websites. Here he repeats Putin’s “arguments” for going to war of aggression against Ukraine: To stop an alleged “genocide” of the Russian-speaking population in Donbas (which never happened), and to fight against Nazism in Ukraine.
In the interview, he blames the West and Ukraine for the outbreak of the war.
79-year-old Waters was thus invited by Russia, but according to the Guardian he claimed to speak on behalf of his “four billion brothers and sisters”. Nothing less.
Waters called for an immediate truce, and probably surprised those who had invited him when he stated the following:
The Russian Federation’s invasion was illegal. I condemn it in the strongest possible way. But, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine did not happen unprovoked, so I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible way.
Russia still calls the war of aggression a “special operation”.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzia did not comment on Waters’ condemnation of the invasion when he spoke afterwards, but called the rock star’s analysis “very precise”. He also referred to Waters as one of the most prominent activists in the anti-war movement.
The Ukrainian UN ambassador Sergyi Kyslytsya has been in several wars of words with Nebenzia at the UN in the past.
He also got to speak after the session with Roger Waters.
He commented that Pink Floyd themselves were banned in the Soviet Union when they protested against the country’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
– It is ironic, if not hypocritical, that Mr Waters is now trying to “whitewash” another invasion. How sad it is for his former fans to see that he accepts his role as – and here he must be quoted further in English – : “another brick in the wall – the wall of Russian disinformation and propaganda”.
Kyslytsya refers here to Pink Floyd’s biggest hit “Another Brick in the Wall” from the album “The Wall” from 1979, to which Waters was the most important contributor.
Kyslytsya ended sourly:
– Keep strumming your guitar, Waters. It suits you better than lecturing the Security Council. No flying pigs here please, he finally said. Also a Pink Floyd reference since they – and Roger Waters solo – have flying pigs at their concerts, and a picture of a flying pig on the album cover of “Animals” from 1977.
It is not only from Ukraine that Waters has received criticism recently. The feud with his former Pink Floyd colleague David Gilmour has been going on more or less since 1985, and this week the relationship hit rock bottom.
Gilmour’s wife, and Pink Floyd songwriter, Polly Samson attacked Waters heavily on Twitter earlier this week.
Among other things, she called him anti-Semitic and Putin apologist, a Twitter message David Gilmour copied and commented with “Every word is true”.
