A Ukrainian official has criticised the appearance of Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters at a UN Security Council meeting after Russia said it invited the musician to address the event remotely.
The 79-year-old said during his speech on Wednesday that he “condemned” the invasion of the country and the “provocateurs” who he claims led to the Russian invasion.
Following the address, the Ukrainian security council delegate Sergiy Kyslytsya criticised him as just a “brick in the wall of Russian disinformation and propaganda”.
Roger Waters - a taste of pop culture in the Security Council this morning. Mr. Waters in his own words has had morning “revelation” in addition to apparent momentary lapses of memory. Pigs might fly, as they say in the UK, when there’s no chances at all for something to happen. pic.twitter.com/d6kYPsFgcQ
— Sergiy Kyslytsya (@SergiyKyslytsya) February 8, 2023
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At the security council meeting, ambassadors from countries across the world came together to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
Ahead of the event, the Russian representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, confirmed the country had invited the rock musician to attend.
Waters addressed the room through a video call and said he was representing “the feelings of countless brothers and sisters all over the world”.
Reflecting on the war, he said: “The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation was illegal. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.
“Also, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was not unprovoked. So I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms.”
He continued: “So what do the voiceless millions have to say? They say thank you for hearing us today. We are many who do not share in the profits of the war industry.
“We do not willingly raise our sons and daughters to provide fodder for your cannons.
“In our opinion, the only sensible course of action today is to call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, no ifs, no buts, no and.
“Not one more Ukrainian or Russian life is to be spent, not one, they are all precious in our eyes. So the time has come to speak truth to power.”
Wish you were here, dear @rogerwaters ! But video link is also an option! pic.twitter.com/QIAoHUdQqU
— Dmitry Polyanskiy (@Dpol_un) February 8, 2023
The Russian delegation’s invitation comes after Waters gave an interview to the Berliner Zeitung earlier this month in which he said: “Maybe I shouldn’t be, but I am now more open to listen to what Putin actually says.
“According to independent voices I listen to, he governs carefully, making decisions on the grounds of a consensus in the Russian Federation government.”
Ukrainian UN ambassador Mr Kyslytsya later addressed the security council meeting and reminded the room that Pink Floyd were banned in the Soviet Union after they condemned the country for invading Afghanistan in 1979.
He added: “It is ironic, if not hypocritical that Mr Waters 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.
“This pop star can easily ignore the alleged episodes of war crimes and crimes against humanity, he can totally ignore the crime of aggression, the opinion of 143 members of the General Assembly, numerous reports by the United Nations agencies, ICC, ICJ, governments and citizens, and he can go and entertain the crowd in Moscow because the dictator there, who Mr Waters identified as the ‘new Hitler’, is not committing the genocide of the indigenous people of Russia?”
