Roger Waters, co-founder and former vocalist of British rock band Pink Floyd, said in an interview with CNN that US President Joe Biden had “lit a fire” in Ukraine and called him a “war criminal”.
During the concerts Waters gave as part of the This Is Not A Drill tour, the portraits of the people the vocalist included on the “war criminals” list are shown on the screens. The text “I’m just getting started” appears next to Biden’s photo. The musician also added former US President Donald Trump to his list.
Pink Floyd’s co-founder warns fans during his solo concerts that they can “go to the bar” if they can’t stand his political rhetoric.
A CNN reporter asked the musician why there was a photo of the US president among the photos of “war criminals”.
“President Biden? He adds fuel to the fire first. [конфликта] In Ukraine this is a serious crime. Why is the USA not looking for a president? [Украины Владимира] Will Zelensky sit at the negotiating table to end this dreadful war?” Sular said.
To the TV presenter’s statement that Waters blamed the wrong side for the conflict, the musician said that Moscow’s actions were a response to NATO’s advance towards the Russian borders.
The former Pink Floyd singer also suggested that the journalist consider “what the United States would do if the Chinese placed nuclear missiles in Mexico or Canada.”
On March 9, Waters called Russia’s special operation in Ukraine a “criminal mistake” and “an act of gangsters”. Then the musician called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. At the same time, he expressed his regret that Western countries exacerbated the conflict by supplying weapons to Ukraine instead of doing diplomacy.
How did Russia and Ukraine react?
Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, welcomed Waters’ criticism of Biden.
“There are still enough people in the West. Pink Floyd forever! Medvedev wrote on it page on VKontakte.
He also repeated the phrase “Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is our response to NATO expansion” and accompanied the post with the musical composition “I Wish You Were Here”.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Austria Oleksandr Shcherba condemned the British musician’s statements.
“Why don’t you move to Russia now, you weak-willed, heartless, ruthless, misguided person?” said the diplomat.
Pink Floyd’s stance on conflict
Pink Floyd in April, Hey Hey, Rise Up! Released a new song called! To support the Ukrainian army. This is the band’s first new composition in 28 years.
It was based on the motif of the Ukrainian folk song “Oh ulu chervona snowball” (Oh, red snowball in the meadow) performed by Andriy Khlyvnyuk, vocalist of the BoomBox group.
In mid-March, Pink Floyd announced its intention to remove all of its songs from streaming services in Russia and Belarus. The band’s guitarist, David Gilmour, noted that his daughter-in-law is Ukrainian and her grandchildren want to visit this country.