PRESIDENT PUTIN CALLS ELTON JOHN AFTER PRANKSTERS ON GAY RIGHTS

It all began two weeks ago when Sir Elton John told BBC that he would like to meet with the Russian President Vladimir Putin, to discuss the treatment of gay people in Russia. However, John's phone rang and the musician believed the person on the other line to be Putin, so he posted on his Instagram page that Putin reached out to him, and he was looking forward to meeting with him to discuss LGBT equality in Russia. The next day, the Kremlin denied having any conversations and Russian celebrity prankster Vladimir Krasnov announced,  he and his comedy partner pranked John, playing the roles of Putin and a press secretary during the call.

John then wrote a response on Instagram: "If this unfortunate incident has helped push this vital issue back into the spotlight, then I am happy to be pranked on this occasion.

This time, Elton John appears to have had an actual phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin called the British musician Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian state-run Sputnik news agency, days after news emerged that a prankster claiming to be the Russian leader had phoned him to talk about gay rights.

In the real Putin-John call, the Russian President agreed to meet the singer if their schedules coincided, Peskov said.

"Putin called and said, 'I know you were called by pranksters; don't get offended by those guys, they are harmless, though this certainly does not justify their actions,' " Peskov said, according to Sputnik. Culled from CNN