Ukraine's Foreign Ministry criticized Jared Leto, a U.S. actor and Thirty Seconds To Mars frontman, for his remarks made at a concert in Belgrade on Oct. 11.
During his performance, Leto asked the audience if there were many Russians among them, which was met with screams of joy.
The musician subsequently said that he missed Russia and would visit once "all these problems are finished," referring to Moscow's full-scale war on Ukraine.
"We're going to come back to Serbia, we're going to go up to St. Petersburg over Moscow. We're going to drop down to Kyiv. We’re gonna party and hang out with everybody," the singer said.
After the footage of Leto's remarks went viral, he faced backlash from Ukrainians on social media.
The Foreign Ministry said that Leto's "feeling the Russian energy" and his wish to perform in Russia "is an insult to those sacrificing lives to defend freedom."
"There can be no appeasement for Russia when it continues its attempts to solve the 'problem' of Ukraine's very existence," the ministry added.
Leto and his team did not respond to the criticism.
The musician had been performing in Ukraine and Russia before February 2022. After Russia's full-scale invasion, he voiced his support for Ukraine.
In 2013, Leto supported the Revolution of Dignity and later visited Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv, where protests took place to pay tribute to the "Heavenly Hundred," the activists killed during the revolution.
Abbey Fenbert
(Updated: )
