Few would put Russian President Vladimir Putin and Elton John together, but the iconic singer recently said that the two connected via the phone and had quite the chat. As many know, Putin’s regime in Russia is not known for being gay-friendly, but John’s post made it sound as if the two had shared an insightful conversation. However, new details are now emerging, and things may not have gone quite how some thought.
Elton John’s Putin post via Instagram indicated that the Russian president had reached out via the phone to chat with the singer. John said he was looking forward to the two meeting in person to discuss the issues of equality in Russia after their productive talk.
https://instagram.com/p/7nZYS2gGUW/?taken-by=eltonjohn
However, as CNN reports , the Kremlin says that Putin’s Elton John phone call never happened. According to Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, there was no phone conversation between the two at all. At this point, apparently John’s team isn’t replying to inquiries about the supposed phone call.
Though the singer’s team isn’t talking about the situation, the post featuring Putin remains up on John’s Instagram page. As the BBC shares, Sir Elton has talked in the past about wanting to have a conversation with Putin regarding the issues concerning gay rights and the treatment of minorities in Russia.
John has been in the Ukraine this week, meeting with President Petro Poroshenko and bringing up the issues of gay rights and equality there. In the past, Sir Elton has been vocal in his criticism for the headline-making issues in Russia.
While Elton John has shared some details of the conversations he’s had this week in Ukraine, he did not go into details about his supposed Putin conversation. At this point, people aren’t sure whether he was tricked by someone calling and pretending to be Putin, or whether the post was something he or his team somehow engineered themselves to start a conversation.
The Putin and Elton John phone conversation may not have actually taken place, but the Kremlin spokesman says that Russia’s president is “always ready to explain the real situation” and “remains open to discuss any human rights issues.” However, Peskov says that they have received no requests for a meeting from John, according to USA Today .
Despite the lack of an actual Vladimir Putin and Elton John call happening prior to now, Peskov indicates that the Russian president would be open to such a conversation if the singer makes the first move. Whatever happened that led to the singer’s Instagram post aside, it would seem that the ball is in Sir Elton’s court at this point.
[Photos by Tim P. Whitby/Matthias Hangst/Getty Images]
