The film director, producer and screenwriter, who recently released a new documentary about the 2014 Ukraine crisis, has interviewed the Russian president on many occasions, with a 2017 Showtime series giving Western audiences a chance to hear Putin’s perspective on a range of issues, from Russia-US ties to crises around the world.

Director Oliver Stone has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to become godfather to his daughter, a transcript from a recent interview released Friday on the Kremlin’s official website has revealed.

In the interview, a curious Stone asked Putin about how many children he is godfather to. “I will not give a number, but several people,” Putin replied. “Wow. Is it like a hundred or three hundred?” Stone asked. “No, no, are you serious? Certainly not. Just a few,” Putin said.

“Otherwise I would ask you to be the godfather for my daughter,” Stone said.

“Does she want to become an Orthodox Christian?” Putin asked, to which Stone reportedly said was possible. “You have to ask her,” Putin insisted.

Putin also asked Stone how old his daughter was, and whether she was a Christian believer. Stone said she was 22, and said that “Yes, she is a believer. She is raised Christian.”

“I see,” Putin said.

The discussion then turned to other issues, including inter-generational conflicts, cultural problems, minority rights, various hotspots around the world, and Russia-US relations. Putin did not give a definitive answer regarding whether he would agree to be godfather to Stone’s daughter.

Stone’s remarks were met with intense criticism from Russiagate conspiracy believers online, with Twitter users bringing out the old (debunked) tropes about ‘Russian meddling in US elections’ and attacking the director with a series of memes and insults.

Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day. pic.twitter.com/CPIcaBlZrB — Creeping Scalia Law (@Hernanagain) 20 июля 2019 г.

I thought that Putin was already Trumps Godfather ⬇️. pic.twitter.com/7rbWxGRz9h — Just My Thoughts aka Bill’s Rants (@_3rd_Derivative) 20 июля 2019 г.

Does anyone know what has happened to this crackpot?

He was always nuts, but this is much worse than that. — The Ghost of Ludwig Kaas (@LudwigsGhost) 20 июля 2019 г.

One user asked if it was possible to “send [Stone] back to Russia,” even though the 72 year old was born in New York City, and has lived the vast majority of his life in the US, apart from his tour of duty during the Vietnam War, for which he earned multiple combat medals. Some even began concocting conspiracy theories about Stone’s movies being “funded by Russia”, and accused him of being a “communist” and a "#Traitor."

Jfc.



Can we send him back to Russia? — FunkyAssBassLine (@rockwitchypoo) 19 июля 2019 г.

Maybe his movies were funded by Russia — Highway 89 Media (@hwy89media) 20 июля 2019 г.

Others were simply taken aback by Stone’s request, asking about what could attract people like Stone to Russia. Some also pointed to Putin’s comments asking Stone to think carefully about making such requests, taking it as a sign that the Russian president was hesitant.

What is their attraction to Russia? — Mandatory Resistance 🌊✊🇺🇸 (@antitrumpresist) 20 июля 2019 г.

That's likely what Putin was saying to Stone: "please make sure to take this as seriously as you should". — Sean Lime (@SeanLime) 19 июля 2019 г.

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