Russian President Vladimir Putin and Elton John appear to be getting along. But it took some time for the two world leaders to get here. It started earlier this month, when someone claiming to be Putin called up Sir John "to discuss LGBT equality in Russia." As you know, John is openly gay and Russia is openly against gay people. So naturally, the conversation seemed like a big step forward for gay rights.

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Unfortunately the call was a prank by some dick-ish Russian TV personality and not made by Putin. Being Elton John and all, the singer was cool about the whole fake Putin thing, tweeting: "If this unfortunate incident has helped push this vital issue back into the spotlight, then I am happy to be pranked on this occasion." Class act.

But now it appears that John and Putin have actually talked on the phone. They spoke Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian state-run Sputnik news agency.

"Putin called and said, 'I know you were called by pranksters; don't get offended by those guys, they are harmless, though this certainly does not justify their actions,'" Peskov said, according to Sputnik. During the conversation, Putin and John allegedly agreed to find time to meet and discuss the issue in person.

So, that's all it takes to cooperate with the country best known for vodka and viral videos about military-grade weapons. Maybe something like this happened between Barack Obama and Putin, who have agreed to chat in New York next week—their first time meeting in person in more than a year.

[H/T: CNN

Matt Miller Culture Editor Matt is the Culture Editor at Esquire where he covers music, movies, books, and TV—with an emphasis on all things Star Wars, Marvel, and Game of Thrones.

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