Why Sir Elton John wants a cup of tea and a chat with Putin

Sir Elton John has offered to have a sensible discussion with Russian premier Vladimir Putin in the hopes of making him see sense on LGBT+ rights.

The country’s track record on the matter is notoriously poor and, after the legendary singer discussed a similar matter with Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko, he now wants to do the same with Putin.

“I’d probably not [change his mind], but I’ll have a go! I’d love to meet him, I’d love to sit down with him and talk to him,” he told the BBC.

“It’s probably pie in the sky… but if I meet him and say ‘let’s have a cup of tea and talk about this’, he may laugh behind my back when he shuts the door, and call me an absolute idiot, but at least I can think I have the conscience to say I tried.

“I’d say come on – gay people are not the problem here. They are not the problem of the world, the world faces much bigger problems than gay people. Don’t isolate and be prejudiced against gay people.”

He went on to say that his fanbase in the country is among his favourites: “I like the Russians. When I went there in 1979, I was astonished how friendly and kind and lovely they were, and that’s probably the only power I have – to use my fame and fortune to bring people together through music, and to then try and use the message of peace and acceptance and inclusion afterwards in my older age.

“I probably wouldn’t have done this when I was 40 or 50, because I wasn’t mature enough to do it.”

Russia passed a law in 2013 that prosecuted so-called promotion of “homosexual behaviour among minors”, and a Human Rights report last year said the nation was failing to prevent and prosecute hate crimes.