After Elton John publicly thanked Vladimir Putin for talking to him on the phone about LGBT rights, a spokesperson for the Russian president has denied any such conversation took place.
After speaking at the YES Ukraine Conference and meeting with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, the singer took to Instagram to discuss a supposed conversation with Vladimir Putin.
Putin is notoriously intolerant of Russia's LGBT community, and introduced legislation that has made "homosexual propoganda" - such as the rainbow flag or published works containing homosexual content - illegal.
It came as something of a surprise then, when Elton John posted the following message on his Instagram: "Thank-you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today. I look to forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia."
Now though, a Kremlin spokesperson has said that no conversation between the two men had taken place - and, as BBC News reports, hinted that the call could have been a hoax.
"I don't know who spoke to Elton John but President Putin did not speak to him," he said, adding, "Most importantly, we didn't receive any proposals to meet."
