Vladimir Putin and Elton John. Two names you would not expect to see in the same news title. However due to recent events these two names have been thrown together more than once!
Sir Elton has recently attempted to reach out to Russian Vladimir Putin in order to discuss LGBT rights in Russia, or perhaps more accurately a lack of LGBT rights. This was of course expected to be met with a refusal from the Kremlin or just plain ignored; what was not expected was an apparent phone call from Putin to Sir Elton.
Sir Elton took to social media to announce this remarkable turn of events:
However earlier on today it has been made apparent that no such phone call took place. With a spokesperson for President Putin saying that:
“I don’t know who spoke to Elton John but President Putin did not speak to him,” he said.
“I don’t know [what happened] but President Putin did not speak to Elton John and most importantly we didn’t receive any proposals to meet.”
Yet the spokesperson for Putin went on to say that whilst no such phone call has taken place; there is the potential for one in the future:
“I don’t doubt that if there is such a request, the president will be ready to meet with Elton John among others to give answers to all the questions that he might ask,” The Guardian reported he told journalists. “But we haven’t received such signals yet.”
Making it clear that whilst there is still the potential for this phone call to take place, it has yet to do so thus Sir Elton has not had direct contact with Putin. With the spokesperson for the President doubting the validity of the phone call Sir Elton has taken, even remarking that it might have been a hoax phone call.
This carry on between a musical legend and a leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world came to particular prominence only after Sir Elton visited neighbouring Ukraine to discuss LGBT rights and equality at the Yes Ukraine conference.
Sir Elton had this to say on the matter, speaking to the BBC:
“I’d love to meet him [Putin], I’d love to sit down and talk to him. It’s probably pie in the sky but unless you try, unless you put your foot in the water, your toe in the water … at least if I meet him and say, ‘Listen, come on, let’s have a cup of tea, let’s talk about this’, he might laugh behind my back and then he shuts the door and call me an absolute idiot but at least I can have a conscience and say I’d tried.”
With the comment from President Putin’s spokesperson saying that the President is potentially willing to discuss human rights with Sir Elton, we can be sure that this is the last we will hear from the pair on this topic; even more so with Putin’s spokesperson denying that any such phone call has already happened.
UPDATE:
It has emerged earlier today that two comedians (Alexei ‘Lexus’ Stolyarov and Vladimir ‘Vovan’ Krasnov) played the part of Vladimir Putin and his apparent translator ‘Vladimir ‘Vovan’ Krasnov’ when ringing Elton John; audio footage of the phone call has also been publicised by Russian TV. You can listen to it here.
