Russian pranksters release clip of hoax video call with David Cameron
- Lord Cameron was duped by a pair of Russian comedians - 'Vovan' and 'Lexus'
- They had previously pranked former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in 2022
A pair of notorious Russian pranksters have released a 15-minute video call showing how Foreign Secretary David Cameron was duped into thinking he was chatting with a former Ukrainian president.
Lord Cameron shared a lengthy conversation with whom he thought was Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine from 2014-2019, earlier this month.
But it was later revealed he had been pranked by 'Vovan and Lexus' - a double act of two Russian comedians Vladimir Kuznetsov and Aleksei Stolyarov who are renowned for catching out celebrities and government officials with highly believable hoax calls.
Lord Cameron admitted weeks ago that he had been spoofed, with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) saying the former prime minister 'became suspicious' after the call and 'regretted his mistake'.
But now 'Vovan and Lexus' have posted a screen recording of the 15-minute-long conversation which sees Lord Cameron touch on topics from Ukraine's bid for NATO membership and the state of the West's ongoing support for Kyiv to private dinners with Donald Trump and a possible Labour victory in the upcoming election.
Lord Cameron shared a lengthy conversation with whom he thought was Petro Poroshenko, the former president of Ukraine, earlier this month
'Vovan and Lexus' have posted a screen recording of the 15-minute-long conversation which sees Lord Cameron touch on topics from Ukraine's bid for NATO membership and the state of the West's ongoing support for Kyiv to private dinners with Donald Trump
(L-R) Vladimir 'Vovan' Kuznetsov and Alexei 'Lexus' Stolyarov at a bar in Moscow, on March 14, 2016
Ukraine's former President Petro Poroshenko is seen opposite the then-British Prime Minister David Cameron at a summit in 2014 as then-EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel look on
Posting the clip on Russian channels as part of the 'Vovan and Lexus Show', the gleeful comedians said: 'Video prank with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron!
'We chatted with the British Foreign Minister on behalf of Petro Poroshenko.
'Petro caught Cameron right on the street, who after a nervous search for a comfortable spot, nestled right against a wall.
'Cameron admitted that Ukraine will not get an invitation to NATO at the summit in July: because the US is against it, and Zelensky should not even argue with this decision.'
They went on to summarise the call before sharing the entire 15-minute clip, which saw Cameron clutching his mobile phone and speaking directly at the camera for the entire duration.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the Russians posing as Poroshenko cut right to the chase, talking about the ongoing fighting in Ukraine's Donetsk and Kharkiv regions before complaining about the delays Kyiv receiving US money and weapons.
'It's very annoying that the American money took so long to arrive,' Cameron lamented, before criticising other Western allies for their perceived inaction over Ukraine.
'I also think in Germany, there's more the Germans could do, no doubt about it,' the Foreign Secretary said, before claiming Britain was one of Ukraine's 'most enthusiastic allies'.
He also sought to reassure that Britain's support would continue in the event of a Labour government following the upcoming election, telling the pranksters: 'I think that the opposition party is as, um, is as enthusiastic about defending Ukraine and helping Ukraine as as the Conservative Party. So I don't think you'll see a change.'
When asked what he thought about the possibility of French troops heading to Ukraine, Cameron said he was 'very keen' on the French enthusiasm but warned against deploying Western troops, saying: 'I think that the problem is, if you put foreign troops into Ukraine, you create a target for Putin.'
One of the most striking aspects of the conversation was Cameron's discussion about former US President Donald Trump.
Cameron disclosed his direct efforts to influence Trump to ensure continued American support for Ukraine, claiming that the pair recently shared a private dinner.
The Foreign Minister said: 'My aim was to convince him not to block the money for Ukraine,' before later revealing that Trump initially misunderstood Putin's ambitions.
According to Lord Cameron, Trump believed that the Russian president only coveted Crimea and the Donbas - a notion Cameron corrected, explaining: 'I said, that's wrong. And he agreed.
'Trump thinks there's some easy deal to make, and that's not the case because Putin wants so much more. And I think that he, Trump needs to understand that.'
Lord Cameron's comments on the prospect of NATO membership for Ukraine were also revealing.
He confirmed that the US would not back an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO at the upcoming July summit, advising Ukrainian leaders to settle for strong supportive language instead of pressing for membership to avoid internal conflict within NATO.
'Let's get to the best we can. A bridge to membership... I think we can have very strong language about the irreversible process of Ukraine joining NATO,' Lord Cameron suggested, before cautioning: 'We can't afford to have a sort of public argument about where Ukraine is vis-a-vis NATO.
'We're just not going to get there this time. So I think it's important not to have an argument about it.'
Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov (L) and Alexei Stolyarov, also known as Vovan and Lexus
The Russian pranksters aired the video of Cameron as part of the 'Vovan and Lexus Show' (pictured) across various Russian channels
Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace fell victim to the pranksters in March 2022
Wallace was evidently perturbed by the call and hit back at the pranksters on social media
The call also touched on the broader geopolitical ramifications of Russian aggression in Ukraine, with Lord Cameron revealing that during a recent trip to Kazakhstan, officials expressed concern that the Kremlin could seek to seize some territory there too.
'I was recently in all the 'stans, and Kazakhstan are convinced that Putin wants a slice of the north of Kazakhstan,' he said.
He also relayed a conversation with the Kazakh foreign minister, who allegedly said that 'Ukrainians are dying for Kazakhstan. They are putting their lives at risk to hold back Russia. And that benefits us.'
Towards the end of the call, it was clear Lord Cameron was becoming somewhat irritated.
On several occasions he attempted to ask 'Poroshenko' where he was and how he was doing, but the Russian pranksters ignored the questions and continued to press the Foreign Secretary for more information.
Lord Cameron sought to end the conversation quite quickly, and an FCDO spokesperson earlier this month said that he became suspicious soon after hanging up the phone.
The FCDO today told MailOnline upon the release of the video: 'We made public the fact that this call happened weeks ago, to do the right thing and make sure others were warned of the risk at the earliest opportunity.
'The Foreign Secretary understood this was a private call with a Ukrainian politician. This is clearly Russian, and is standard practice for information operations.
'Disinformation is a tactic straight from the Kremlin playbook to try to distract from their illegal activities in Ukraine and the human rights abuses being committed there.'
But the Foreign Secretary is not the first British cabinet minister to fall prey to Vovan and Lexus.
In March 2022, less than one month after Russian troops surged across the Ukrainian border, the pair pulled off a successful prank call with the then-British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
Believing he was talking to Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal, Wallace held a 10-minute Teams call from the back of his car in which he said, among other things, that Britain was running short of anti-tank weapons (NLAWs), after providing more than 4,000 to Ukraine.
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