Russian President Vladimir Putin may soon find out, if he meets Elton John -- as he is ready to do, his spokesman said Thursday.

The powerful Russian leader and legendary rocker may seem like an odd pairing, given Putin's oft-conservative positions and his day job running a country, and John's career as a musician and well-known advocacy for gay rights. Yet they were brought together by, of all things, a prank call . Since then, the two have talked for real on the phone and may soon meet up in person.

"The president has said that he is ready to meet Elton John," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday, according to Russia's official Sputnik news agency . "And as soon as the schedules intersect, they will meet."

Russia criticized on LGBT issues

The Kremlin spokesman's comments come days after John told the Mirror , a British tabloid, that he was "very flattered" that Putin reached out to him by phone after the prank call in September.

"He was very gracious and he spoke good English," the singer said of Putin. "He apologized for the hoax call."

John added that he looked forward to "when I can discuss things with him face to face within the next year."

Photos: Cult of Putin Photos: Cult of Putin While his nation waded deeper into the Syrian civil war, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, spent his 63rd birthday on the ice Wednesday, October 7, playing hockey with NHL stars and various Russian officials and tycoons in Sochi. For years, Russia's leader has cultivated a populist image in the Russian media. Hide Caption 1 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin holds a cat as he inspects housing built for victims of wildfires in the village of Krasnopolye, in a region in southeastern Siberia, Russia, on Friday, September 4. Hide Caption 2 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin, left, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev jokingly toast at a lunch during a meeting at the Black Sea resort in Sochi, Russia, on Sunday, August 30. Hide Caption 3 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin exercises during his meeting with Medvedev on August 30. Hide Caption 4 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin sits in a bathyscaphe as it plunges into the Black Sea along the coast of Sevastopol, Crimea, on Tuesday, August 18. Putin went underwater to see the wreckage of an ancient merchant ship that was found in the end of May. Hide Caption 5 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin holds a Persian leopard cub in February 2014 at a breeding and rehabilitation center in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Perhaps the most important vote in Russia's public selection of a new Olympic mascot was cast when Putin said he wanted a funky leopard to represent the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Hide Caption 6 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin holds a pike he caught in the Siberian Tuva region of Russia on July 20, 2013. Hide Caption 7 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin enjoys some fishing during his vacation to the Tuva region on July 20, 2013. Hide Caption 8 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin submerges on board Sea Explorer 5 bathyscaphe near the isle of Gogland in the Gulf of Finland on July 15, 2013. Hide Caption 9 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin studies a crane during an experiment called Flight of Hope on September 5, 2012, in which he piloted a hang glider, aiming to lead the birds into flight. It's part of a project to save the rare species of crane. Hide Caption 10 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin takes part in a training session for young ice hockey players before the "Golden Puck" youth tournament final in Moscow on April 15, 2011. Hide Caption 11 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin rides a Harley-Davidson to an international biker convention in southern Ukraine on July 14, 2010. Hide Caption 12 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin The Russian president aims at a whale with an arbalest (crossbow) to take a piece of its skin for analysis at Olga Bay on August 25, 2010. Hide Caption 13 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin A wetsuit-clad Putin embarks on a dive to an underwater archaeological site at Phanagoria on the Taman Peninsula on August 10, 2011. Hide Caption 14 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Famed for his love of martial arts, Putin throws a competitor in a judo session at an athletics school in St. Petersburg on December 18, 2009. Hide Caption 15 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin during his vacation in southern Siberia on August 3, 2009. Hide Caption 16 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin swims the butterfly during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in southern Siberia on August 3, 2009. Hide Caption 17 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Assisted by a Russian scientist, Putin fixes a satellite transmitter to a tiger during his visit to the Ussuriysky forest reserve of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Far East on August 31, 2008. Hide Caption 18 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin carries a hunting rifle in the Republic of Tuva on September 3, 2007. Hide Caption 19 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin A shirtless Putin fishing in the headwaters of the Yenisei River in the Republic of Tuva on August 13, 2007. Hide Caption 20 of 21 Photos: Cult of Putin Putin in the cockpit of a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber jet at a military airport on August 16, 2005, before his supersonic flight. Hide Caption 21 of 21

Their apparently positive first impressions notwithstanding, the pair have a lot distinct differences that could kill any good vibes.

Gay rights is top among them. Putin leads a country that, in July 2013, passed a law that bars "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations around minors" -- which translates to banning public discussion (much less advocacy) of gay rights and relationships if it's possible children might hear it.

A Human Rights Watch report released in December 2014 concluded that since then, things have gotten worse for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the country. The report faults Russian authorities for failing to protect such people from persecution and are not prosecuting the perpetrators of a number of anti-gay attacks.

John, meanwhile, has long been a vocal champion of LGBT rights as well as the fight against AIDS. He and his husband, David Furnish , have two children.

Prank brought John, Putin together

Given the seriousness of this topic, it's ironic that a joke connected John and Putin.

It started when the singer told the BBC that he wanted to talk with Putin about the treatment of gay people in Russia. Two weeks later, John picked up his phone and thought his hopes were realized.

He posted on Instagram on September 14 that Putin had reached out to him and that he looked forward to meeting the Russian leader "to discuss LGBT equality in Russia."

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

But the next day, the Kremlin denied any conversation had taken place. Then Vladimir Krasnov, a Russian TV personality known for making pranks, announced that he and a sidekick -- not the Kremlin -- had made the call, pretending to be Putin and a press secretary.

The real Putin ended up talking to John about a week later, at which time Peskov first signaled the Russian President's willingness to have an in-person meeting.

"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 then, according to Sputnik.