Sir Elton And Putin Will Not Meet In Moscow

Elton John and Vladimir Putin will not meet to discuss gay rights in Russia when the singer visits Moscow this month, because their schedules do not match.

A meeting between the two men had been on the cards since the Russian President telephoned the entertainer and said he was ready to hold talks.

Russia sparked an outcry in 2013 after it passed a law banning what it alleged was homosexual "propaganda" among children.

Sir Elton responded by publicly expressing concern over Russia's attitude to gay people, which he claimed was "isolating and prejudiced".

The singer - who has two sons with husband David Furnish - made the offer of talks after meeting Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko to discuss lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.

The singer will perform at a luxury Moscow shopping and entertainment centre on May 30 and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had been in contact with Sir Elton a few weeks ago to arrange the meeting.

Addressing journalists during a conference call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We were in correspondence with him a couple of weeks ago, because there had been an agreement that, if their schedules allow, this meeting would take place.

:: Sir Elton John Photo Collection Heads To Tate

"President Putin expressed readiness for this meeting. But this time, the meeting won't take place, unfortunately. Their schedules do not match up. But this does not mean that such a meeting won't take place next time."

In September, Sir Elton fell victim to a hoax call by comedians claiming to be the Russian President.

The 68-year-old boasted on Instagram he had spoken to Mr Putin, only to discover it was a prank later aired on Russian TV.