Sir Elton John ‘pranked by Russian comedians pretending to be Vladimir Putin’

The singer had recently revealed he spoke to the president to discuss LGBT equality in Russia, but notorious tricksters Alexei “Lexus” Stolyarov and Vladimir “Vovan” Krasnov have said they were behind the call.

The pranking pair have previously targeted former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and a host of Russian celebrities. Two Russian TV comedians say they prank called the British superstar and posed as the famously anti-gay (and anti-many others) Russian president.

In 2013, Putin passed a law that prosecuted private individuals promoting homosexual behavior among minors and prohibited same-sex marriages. John has resisted calls for Western stars to boycott the country-and defied Russian antigay protestors-by making pro-LGBT political statements during his tour stops there.

Krasnov said John didn’t broach the subject of gay rights in the call, but did bring up the situation in Ukraine and push for a meeting in person. But the Kremlin quickly denied there had been any such conversation.

Now though, a Kremlin spokesperson has said that no conversation between the two men had taken place – and hinted that the call could have been a hoax.

Calling the president’s attitude towards gays “ridiculous”, he told over the weekend, “I would like to meet him. I’d love to meet him, I’d love to sit down with him and talk to him”. He added, “The president has always been open to discuss human rights issues”.

The singer met Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko earlier this week, where he said he asked him to ban discrimination in the workplace based on sexuality and gender identity, and provide criminal penalties for hate crimes.

Elton John is a staunch advocate for gay rights and just last month criticised a Venice mayor who has removed books from schools that feature same-sex families.