Vladimir Putin Calls Elton John to Discuss LGBT Rights

While on a visit to Ukraine last week, Elton John met with President Petro Poroshenko and called for stronger protections and expanded rights for the Eastern European nation's LGBT population. While in the country, John told the BBC that he wanted to meet with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in a similar capacity, to explain to him the importance of gay rights. While admitting that it was a "pie in the sky" kind of hope, the message reached the Kremlin, prompting Putin to give the British legend a call.

Yesterday, John posted the following message to his Instagram account:

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. @president_vladimir_putin @ejaf #lgbt #lgbtrights #ShareTheLove

A photo posted by Elton John (@eltonjohn) on Sep 14, 2015 at 8:11am PDT

Buzzfeed confirmed via the singer's publicist that the call did indeed take place, but that he wasn't privy to specifics.

Previously, John explained what he would say to Putin on the matter:

"I'd say come on - gay people are not the problem here. They are not the problem of the world, the world faces much bigger problems than gay people. Don't isolate and be prejudiced against gay people."

While the fact that Putin reached out could signal some hope, at least for his willingness to listen, the Russian president also recently awarded the nation's highest civilian honor to the lawmaker responsibile for the controversial anti-gay propoganda bill.

[H/T Pink News]