President Vladimir Putin has phoned popular singer Elton John to say
he would be ready to meet up for a chat after the British singer
requested a meeting to discuss his concerns about gay rights in Russia.
Aljazeera reports:
Putin’s call on Thursday came just a week after a pair of
Russian comedians tricked John, 68, into thinking he was talking to
Putin on the phone, in a stunt that the entertainer laughed off, while
saying he hoped it would highlight discrimination against gay people.
This time, Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said the Russian leader
really had phoned John, who has used his status as one of the world’s
most famous gay celebrities to push for equal rights for gay people
around the world. “Putin phoned him,” Peskov told reporters. “He said:
‘I know some guys played a trick on you on the phone, but don’t get
offended. They are harmless people, though that of course does not
justify what they did.'”
Putin told John that since he was a popular performer he would be
ready to meet him and discuss any subject which interested him, if their
schedules coincided, Peskov said. Western states and human rights
activists have criticised Russia for its treatment of gay people, and
John has previously spoken out against a 2013 law banning the
dissemination of “gay propaganda” among young people.
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