Russian pranksters posing as former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko managed to contact Angela Merkel by phone to discuss developments in Ukraine and Belarus, although the former German chancellor appeared suspicious on the call.
BERLIN– Russian pranksters posing as former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko managed to contact Angela Merkel by phone to discuss developments in Ukraine and Belarus, although the former German chancellor appeared suspicious on the call.
Merkel’s office said on Monday that the former German leader received a call on Jan. 12 from someone claiming to be Poroshenko. The conversation was assisted by a German-Ukrainian interpreter from the language service of the German Foreign Office.
In an emailed statement, the office said Merkel later informed the ministry about “the impression she had of the caller during the call,” but did not specify what he was talking about. it was.
Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as Vovan and Lexus, posted on their Telegram channel what they said were excerpts from the call. The pair have previously embarrassed European politicians, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda and then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as well as Elton John and Prince Harry, with similar pranks.
The recording shows Merkel saying – as she has done publicly before – that the much-criticized Minsk peace deal has bought Ukraine valuable time. Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande brokered the peace deal with Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2015. She also criticizes the crackdown in autocratic Belarus.
Poroshenko was president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Merkel led Germany from 2005 to the end of 2021.
ABC News
Don’t miss interesting posts on Famousbio
