British foreign office targeted in elaborate Russian prank on Cameron

Two Russian pranksters, who gained worldwide fame by calling politicians and impersonating various well-known figures, released a conversation recording with David Cameron on Wednesday. The head of the British Foreign Office was convinced he was speaking with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

In early June, the British Foreign Office acknowledged that Cameron fell victim to this hoax. The decision to disclose this hindered potential manipulations and raised awareness about Russian disinformation.

During the conversation, which lasted almost 15 minutes, the person pretending to be Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine between 2014 and 2019, touched on many topics. Cameron talked about, among other things, Britain's opposition Labour Party, former US President Donald Trump, who is seeking a return to the White House, and Russian aggression in Ukraine.

When asked if he thinks British policy towards Ukraine will change after the July elections to the House of Commons, Cameron replied that the Labour Party was "just as enthusiastic" in its support for Ukraine as the Conservatives. "I don’t think you’ll see change. Obviously, if they win, it will be a new government, there will be some getting up to speed on some issues, but I think fundamentally they’ve supported everything we’ve done. I think the Labour Party, if they win, will continue that approach." Cameron assured.

Referring to Trump, Cameron assessed that the former US president would want to support the winning side in Ukraine, but "it’s hard to predict exactly what his attitude will be."

"I think ultimately [Trump] will calculate at the time what’s right for him. I think the key thing is if we can make sure that Ukraine is on the front foot and Putin is on the back foot by November [2024], then he will want to support the winning side, as it were, and that’s what we’ve got to ensure," he said.

At another point in the conversation, the person pretending to be Poroshenko expressed concern that not sending Ukraine an invitation to NATO is a "bad signal." In response, Cameron stated: "There’s not going to be an invitation because America won’t support one."

"So what I’ve said to the president, [Volodymyr] Zelensky, is: let’s try and get the best language we can about NARO support for Ukraine. But don’t, let’s not, we mustn’t have an argument Nato and Ukraine before the summit," the head of the British Foreign Office revealed.

Cameron also mentioned his conversation with his Kazakh counterpart Murat Nurtleu earlier this year.

"Kazakhstan is convinced that Putin wants a slice of the north of Kazakhstan. Mr Nurtleu] said Ukrainians are dying for Kazakhstan, they are putting their lives at risk to hold back Russia, and that benefits us," the head of British diplomacy revealed.

Russian comedians Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as Vovan and Lexus, gained worldwide fame by misleading celebrities and politicians by impersonating various well-known figures. Among the victims of their pranks were, among others, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, British Prince Harry, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, then German Chancellor Angela Merkel, later US Vice President Kamala Harris, and Polish President Andrzej Duda.