Out singer Sir Elton John has thanked
Russian President Vladimir Putin for calling him to discuss LGBT
rights. But the Kremlin has denied the claim.
“Thank-you to President Vladimir
Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today,”
John captioned a photo of the Russian leader on Instagram. “I look
to forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality
in Russia.”
But the Kremlin has denied that the
conversation took place.
“That is not true. There was no
conversation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on
Tuesday, according to various media.
In an interview with the BBC from
Ukraine, John said that he would like to meet with Putin to discuss
gay rights.
“I would like to meet [Putin],” he
added. “It's probably pie in the sky … He may laugh behind my
back when he shuts the door and call me an absolute idiot, but at
least I can think I have the conscience to say I tried.”
John said that he would tell Putin to
“be accepting” and don't “be prejudiced against gay people.”