Ukraine slams Roger Waters over UN Security Council speech
Ukraine has denounced Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters for claiming that Russia’s invasion was “not unprovoked”.
In an address to the United Nations Security Council delivered on Wednesday at Russia’s invitation, Waters said he condemned Moscow’s offensive, describing it as “illegal”.
But the 79-year-old – who has previously praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and criticised the West for supplying Ukraine with arms – then implied that Kyiv and its allies were partly to blame for the conflict as well.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine was not unprovoked. So I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms,” Waters told diplomats in New York City via video link, without referring to any specific individuals, groups or countries.
“The only sensible course of action today is to call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine,” he added.
Waters’s comments drew a sharp rebuke from Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, who accused the musician of attempting to “whitewash” Moscow’s actions.
“In 1979, Pink Floyd came up with a song, Another Brick in the Wall. The same year the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and after the invasion was condemned by Pink Floyd” Kyslytsya said.
“It is ironic, if not hypercritical, that Mr. Walters attempts now to whitewash another invasion. How sad for his former fans to see him accepting the role of just a brick in the wall. The wall of Russian disinformation and propaganda.”
The United States, which is Ukraine’s most prominent backer in the West, also denounced Waters.
“We’ve been brought together today once again to hear another version of why Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine is actually the fault of Ukraine or Ukraine’s partners. Or, in Mr Waters words, Ukraine friends who are provocateurs,” Richard Mills, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, told the 15-member Security Council.
