Elton John responds to the two pranksters that made him think he'd been talking to Putin

This is called making the best out of a bad situation.

Elton John fell victim to the workings of two Russian pranksters this week, having been convinced he was talking to Russian president Vladimir Putin and his translator when he was actually speaking to two men by the names of Alexei Stolyarov and Vladimir Krasnov who make a habit out of this sort of thing.

While hilarious to them, the joke was lost on a lot of other people, John included, who felt that the pranksters were making light of homophobia and the draconian laws against LGBT people in Russia. John had remained silent on the story until today when he made a short statement on Instagram saying:

Pranks are funny.

Homophobia, however is never funny.

I love Russia and my offer to talk to President Putin about LGBT rights still stands. I will always stand up for those that are being degraded and discriminated against.

If this unfortunate incident has helped push this vital issue back into the spotlight, then I am happy to be pranked on this occasion.

Accompanying the statement is an image of two Russian LGBT youths whose image went viral around the world last year after they were attacked in broad daylight in the country.