The Russian prankster duo Vovan and Lexus (real names Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov) have published an audio recording of them in conversation with the British foreign minister, David Cameron. In the call to Cameron they introduced themselves as the former president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. The hoax call made reference to the Kazakh foreign minister, Murat Nurtleu.
Kuznetsov and Stolyarov claimed to Cameron that Nurtleu had spoken to ‘Poroshenko’ about the sacrifices that the Ukrainian people are making for Kazakhstan by fighting to contain Russia. There is a theory that were Russia to win its war against Ukraine, its next target would be the territories of northern Kazakhstan, which border the Russian Federation.
Cameron appears not to have realized that he was being hoaxed. During the conversation he said that he didn’t not think that the current Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy should complain about Ukraine not being able to join NATO. Cameron also said that he did not know how US presidential candidate Donald Trump would handle the situation in Ukraine if he returned to power in America’s November elections.
The Kazakh foreign ministry has dismissed Cameron’s alleged part in the conversation as “misinformation”. Its spokesperson Aibek Smadiyarov commented: “There was no such conversation; the British minister bears all responsibility for misinformation.”