Ukraine comments: Roger Waters gigs scraped in Poland

Concerts by Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters were cancelled by a venue in the Polish city of Krakow, organisers said yesterday, after the artist's comments on the war in Ukraine caused a storm of criticism.

Waters had been due to appear in Krakow next April, but Polish media reports about an open letter he wrote to Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska urging her to ask her husband to choose "a different route" and criticising the West for supplying Ukraine with arms provoked a fierce backlash.

Poland counts itself among Kyiv's staunchest allies.

In a social media post, Waters criticised local councillor Lukasz Wantuch over the vote to declare him unwelcome in the city.

"Lukasz Wantuch has threatened to hold a meeting asking the council to declare me 'Persona non grata' because of my public efforts to encourage all involved in the disastrous war in Ukraine, especially the governments of the USA and Russia, to work towards a negotiated peace," Waters wrote in a post on Facebook.