Roger Waters's Poland Shows Cancelled over Stance on Ukraine, Pens Open Letter to Putin

The Pink Floyd co-founder called the US providing support and funding to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion "a huge crime"

Photo: Chris Bubinas

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Sep 26, 2022

Roger Waters admittedly doesn't know much about the Weeknd or Drake, and that's fine — but the Pink Floyd co-founder is quite convinced that he's an authority on foreign affairs, and has developed a penchant for writing open letters to Russian and Ukrainian leaders about how he thinks they should handle the former's war on the latter.

The musician's outspoken stance on the situation came to a head in August when he was interviewed on CNN and called US President Joe Biden a "war criminal" for providing funding and support to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. "That is a huge crime," Waters said. "Why won't the United States of America encourage [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy to negotiate, obviating the need for this horrific, horrendous war?"

CNN's Michael Smerconish pointed out that Waters was "blaming the party who got invaded," the musician went on: "This war is basically about the action and reaction of NATO pushing right up to the Russian border, which they promised they wouldn't do when [Mikhail] Gorbachev negotiated the withdrawal of the USSR from the whole of Eastern Europe."

Now, Live Nation Poland has cancelled a pair of Waters's concerts that were scheduled to take place next April as part of his This Is Not a Drill tour, as national press began reporting on Saturday (September 24) [via NBC News].

"Roger Waters' manager decided to withdraw... without giving any reason," a representative for Kraków's Tauron Arena said in a statement. However, Waters took to Facebook to clarify that he nor his management cancelled the gigs, invoking "Another Brick in the Wall" to lambaste city councillor Łukasz Wantuch, who has been campaigning against the concerts and drafted a resolution asking Kraków to name the singer-songwriter a persona non grata (due to be voted on this week), and his "draconian censoring" of his work.

Early this month, Waters's letter to Ukrainian First Lady Zelenska blamed "extreme nationalists" in Ukraine for having set the country "on the path to this disastrous war." Yesterday (September 25), he decided to write to Russian President Vladimir Putin, posting the following on Facebook:

Dear President Putin, since the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine on February 24th this year I have tried to use my small influence to encourage a ceasefire and a diplomatic settlement that addresses the security needs of both Ukraine and The Russian Federation. In that endeavour I have written two open letters to Mrs. Olena Zelenska the wife of the Ukrainian President. These letters are readily available on the internet. I am increasingly asked to write to you too, so here goes. Firstly, would you like to see an end to this war? If you were to reply and say, "Yes please." That would immediately make things a lot easier. If you were to come out and say, "Also the Russian Federation has no further territorial interest beyond the security of the Russian speaking populations of the Crimea, Donetsk and Lubansk." That would help too. I say this because, I know some people who think you want to overrun the whole of Europe, starting with Poland and the rest of the Baltic states. If you do, fuck you, and we might as well all stop playing the desperately dangerous game of nuclear chicken that the hawks on both sides of the Atlantic seem so comfortable with, and have at it. Yup, just blow each other and the world to smithereens. The problem is, I have kids and grandkids, and so do most of my brothers and sisters all over the world and none of us would relish that outcome. So, please Mr Putin indulge me, and make us that assurance.
 
Alright back to the table, if I've read your previous speeches correctly, you would like to negotiate a state of neutrality for a sovereign neighbouring Ukraine? Is that correct? Assuming such a peace could be negotiated it would have to include an absolutely binding agreement not to invade anyone ever again. I know, I know, the US and NATO invade other sovereign countries at the drop of a hat, or for a few barrels of oil, but that doesn't mean you should, your invasion of Ukraine took me completely by surprise, it was a heinous war of aggression, provoked or not.

When Mrs. Zelenska replied to me via Twitter, I was very surprised and mightily moved, if you were to reply to me, I would mightily respect you for it, and take it as an honourable move in the right direction towards a sustainable peace.  

Yours sincerely
Roger Waters


See Waters's most recent Facebook post below.

 

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