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Vladimir Putin agrees to meet Elton John

Vladimir Putin agrees to meet Elton John
Elton John in 2014 (Image: www.ubikwit.net under a CC licence)

24 September 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to meet Sir Elton John, the Kremlin has stated.

According to Mr Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin phoned the legendary singer earlier today and expressed his readiness to meet and discuss “any issues of interest” to Sir Elton.

The singer had previously been the victim of a hoax, in which two Russian TV presenters prank called him, tricking him into thinking he was speaking with Mr Putin. Vladimir Krasnov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as Vovan and Lexus, posed as Mr Putin and Mr Peskov ringing to discuss LGBT rights with the singer.

Sir Elton expressed his wish to meet with the Russian President after speaking in Ukraine at the YES Ukraine 2015 conference on LGBT rights on 12 September, where he lobbied Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on the issue.

Source: BBC