When it comes to the topic of “pop and politics”, the ex-Pink Floyd founding member, 79, is known to think big. After last weekend’s verbal skirmish with authorities in Kraków, Poland, over the war in Ukraine, Roger Waters is now addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin directly. This “open letter” was put on the wide web via the socials by Waters. In his lengthy message, he also clarifies a few things!
As if he were a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, he addressed Putin directly:
“Would you like this war to end? If you answered ‘yes, please,’ that would make things a lot easier right away,” says Waters.
“If you said: ‘The Russian Federation has no further territorial interests than the security of the Russian-speaking population in Crimea, Donetsk and Lubansk’. That would help too.”
This message, which is characterized by his own hubris, is also a reaction to his previous statements on the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
Waters suggests that he was inspired to write his Putin letter after reading the numerous comments on his letters to Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska, where he was criticized for, among other things, always addressing only one side of the conflict .
The ex-Floyd bassist had high-flyer-wise claimed that he had tried since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022; to use his “small influence to bring about a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution”.
The security needs of both Ukraine and the Russian Federation should be taken into account.
In his tract, Waters vehemently rejects the claim that Putin and his regime “intend to overrun all of Europe, starting with Poland and the Baltic States.”
If that is the case, according to the great geopolitical strategist Roger Waters, “we might as well stop playing the extremely dangerous game of ‘nuclear coward’ that the hawks on both sides of the Atlantic are extremely comfortable with.”
Towards the end of his geopolitical cable, he just drafted a negotiation plan for possible Russian-Ukrainian consultations. Again addressing Putin directly, Waters finds:
“If I understand all the speeches and statements correctly, do you want to negotiate neutrality status for a sovereign neighbor Ukraine? Am I correct? Suppose such a peace could be negotiated. Then it would have to include an absolutely binding agreement never to invade anywhere again!”
His conclusion is that it is well known that both the USA and NATO invade other sovereign countries “when it suits them. Or a few barrels of oil. That doesn’t mean you should too! Their invasion of Ukraine took me completely by surprise, it was a hideous war of aggression whether provoked or not.”
This, in turn, had not been heard or read so clearly from Waters.