Elton John: Putin called after I asked to meet on gay rights

“There was no conversation”.

Whatever the case, John just recently left Ukraine where the singer sat down and chatted with President Petro Poroshenko, the singer asking the politician to provide greater protection for the Ukrainian LGBT community.

John, who regularly performs concerts in Russian Federation, expressed a desire on Saturday to meet with Putin to discuss gay rights during an interview with the BBC.

“It’s probably pie in the sky”, he admitted.

Guardian reports that the purported call between Vladimir Putin and Elton John didn’t infact take place.

So read into it what you like, but the Kremlin, while denying the actual call, nonetheless seems to hint that President Putin is open to clarifying his positions and would be ready to answer any questions Elton John had. Elton believed that he’d actually spoken to Putin, and even thanked the Russian leader on his Instagram account for reaching out to him.

The singer previously posted a picture of Russian president Vladimir Putin on Instagram on Monday, thanking him “for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today” about LGBT rights.

Asked what he thought were the most pressing issues in Russian Federation, Sir Elton said: “I think the violence towards LGBT people. There was no conversation”, the CNN quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as telling reporters in Russia, according to the Russian state-run news agency Sputnik.

Russia’s law against “homosexual propaganda” – begun in St Petersburg but now nationwide – outlaws information aimed at children that “denies traditional family values”.

In a recording published online Sir Elton is heard to say a meeting between he and Putin in November would be “fantastic”.

Before the Winter Olympics in Sochi a year ago, Mr Putin controversially said gay people travelling to the Games could “feel relaxed and comfortable”, but they must “leave the children in peace”.

Sir Elton, who has two sons with husband David Furnish, has been outspoken on the issue of gay rights before.