Russia has asked Roger Waters to speak to the United Nations Security Council about arms delivery to Ukraine.
Waters’ appearance at the UN today (February 8) was requested by Moscow, according to Reuters, and would mark one of dozens of meetings the Security Council has held since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in last February. Today’s meeting of the Security Council has been requested by Russia to discuss “prospects for a peaceful solution to the crisis around Ukraine in the context of increasing Western arms supplies” , according to independent think tank Security Council Report.
According Reutersthe invitation to the co-founder of Pink Floyd was greeted with derision by UN diplomats, with an unnamed member of the Security Council saying, “Russian diplomacy was serious. What’s next? Mr. Bean?”
Apparently Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia urged diplomats to ‘see what he says [Waters]. She’s got a set and they’ll hear it tomorrow.” Nebenzia jokingly added, “Maybe she’ll sing for us too.”
The Russian request that Waters address the UN follows an open letter the musician sent in September to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, in which he spoke out about Western arms shipments to the ‘Ukraine. Responding to Zelenska’s pleas for ‘firm’ support from the West, Waters wrote: ‘If by ‘support for Ukraine’ you mean the West continues to supply arms to the Kyiv government armies, I’m afraid you’re tragically wrong. form of weapons, to a fire… it won’t work.”
More recently, Waters addressed the issue of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine during an interview with the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung. The leader reiterated his criticism of the role of the United States and President Joe Biden in the conflict, saying the country was “the main aggressor” and that the war had been “provoked beyond measure”.
In another part of the interview with Berliner Zeitung , Waters denounced the Ukrainian charity single “Hey Hey Rise Up”, released last year by his former bandmates Pink Floyd. “It encourages the continuation of war,” Water said of the song, which featured Ukrainian musician Andriy Khlyvnyuk and raised money for humanitarian charities. “Partner Now [a Pink Floyd] with something like that… proxy war makes me sad.”
The interview drew criticism from David Gilmour, Waters’ former Pink Floyd bandmate, earlier this week. Gilmour’s wife, writer Polly Samson, shared a tweet calling Waters a “Putin apologist”, calling him a “liar, thief, hypocrite, tax evader, misogynist, jealous, megalomaniac”. Glimour then re-shared the tweet with the caption: “every word is demonstrably true.”
Waters himself issued a statement in response to Samson’s comments, stating that he “completely refutes them” and that they are “inflammatory and grossly inaccurate”. The musician said he was “taking advice on his position” in relation to Samson’s claims. NME has contacted Waters spokespersons for further comment.
Last October, Waters spoke with rolling stone about his belief that he is on a “blacklist” of enemies of Ukraine. “I’m on the fucking list, and people have been killed lately… But when they kill you, they put ‘killed’ on your picture. Well, I’m on those fucking pictures,” Waters said. .