Boris Johnson tricked by Russian prankster posing as the Armenian prime minister
- Boris Johnson duped by Russian duo, one of whom posed as the Armenian prime minister
- The foreign secretary speaks for 18 minutes about Putin, Russian poisonings and international affairs.
- He eventually terminates the call after the man posing as the Armenian PM suggests Putin is funding the Labour party.
- A spokesperson for Johnson dismisses the incident as a "childish" hoax."
LONDON - The UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson has fallen victim to an extended prank by a Russian duo with suspected links to the Russian security services.
Alexei Stolyarov and Vladimir Kuznetsov released a recording of an 18 minute phone conversation with Johnson in which Stolyarov posed as the Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and asked the foreign secretary for advice on dealing with Putin.
Johnson was also recorded laughing after Stolyarov made a jokey reference to the poisoning earlier this year of Sergei Skripal.
The conversation, an excerpt of which was sent to the Guardian, was eventually terminated by Johnson or his advisers, after the man posing as Pashinyan suggested that Putin had been secretly funding the Labour party.
Listen to Johnson tricked by a fake Armenian premier
Stolyarov and Kuznetsov, known as Lexus and Vovan, have previously tricked a series of other world leaders including the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, the Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as well as Elton John.
In a statement the UK foreign office condemned the "childish" hoax.
"The Foreign Secretary realised it was a hoax, and ended the call," the foreign office said in a statement.
"We checked it out and knew immediately it was a prank call. The use of chemical weapons in Salisbury and Syria, and recent events in Armenia are serious matters. These childish actions show the lack of seriousness of the caller and those behind him."