Roger Waters shares open letter to Vladimir Putin: “Would you like to see an end to this war?”

nme.com:

Roger Waters has shared an open letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin, urging him to commit to a ceasefire and diplomatic settlement to end the Russia-Ukraine war.In a statement shared on social media, Waters pointed out that he was spurred to write Putin after seeing comments on his letters to Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska, asking why he had only addressed one side of the conflict.The former Pink Floyd bassist has claimed that in the months since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, he has “tried to use [his] small influence to encourage a ceasefire and a diplomatic settlement that addresses the security needs of both Ukraine and The Russian Federation”.Addressing Putin directly, Waters asked: “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 [sic].’ That would help too.”Waters went on to address the notion that Putin and his forces “want to overrun the whole of Europe, starting with Poland and the rest of the Baltic states”.

Should that be the case, he continued, “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 artist encouraged Putin to issue a message of public assurance that Russia has no interest in overrunning Europe, as he “[has] kids and grandkids, and so do most of my brothers and sisters all over the world and none of us would relish that.