Sir Elton John to meet Vladimir Putin after recent phone prank

Sir Elton John and Vladimir Putin have agreed to a meeting after the singer's recent 'pranking', the Russian President's spokesman has said.

Pop icon Sir Elton had previously asked to speak to Mr Putin about gay rights in Russia, but had fallen victim to pranksters who pretended to be Putin on the phone.

The Reuters news agency reports that his time Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a phone call had really taken place and that the Russian leader had asked Sir Elton not to be offended by the earlier prank, which had beencarried out by comedians and later broadcast on Russian television.

Peskov said the meeting would take place when the two men's timetables coincided.

• Listen: Russian TV stars in prank Putin call with Sir Elton John