The British Foreign Secretary was a victim of fraud, David Cameron, with Russian pranksters posing as former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. In fact, the pranksters released video of a video call the British Foreign Secretary allegedly had with Poroshenko.
The British Foreign Office announced earlier this month that Cameron held a video call with someone posing as Poroshenko before the British Foreign Secretary realized he was the victim of a hoax.
The video call, which appears to last about 15 minutes and in which Cameron is shown talking on a cell phone in casual clothes outdoors, was executed by Russian pranksters using the pseudonym ‘Vovan and Lexus’.
The targets of pranksters
These pranksters – well known in Russia – have in recent years targeted several Western politicians, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, in 2022, then-British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
The Foreign Office reported today that the video call looks like a Russian intelligence operation, which was intended to divert attention from Russia’s war in Ukraine. The British Foreign Office did not respond to a question about the authenticity of the video.
Vovan and Lexus have previously denied Western accusations that they had links to Russian intelligence services, although they often ask their victims questions about Russian state interests.
What did Cameron say?
In the video released today, the authenticity of which Reuters was unable to independently verify, Cameron is seen and heard speaking about sensitive issues relating to Ukraine.
Specifically, he is heard talking about a private dinner he had with US presidential candidate Donald Trump in April, in which he pressured Trump to allow Republicans to vote to continue US military aid to Ukraine.
Cameron looks like says the Republican Party is divided over Ukraine and who told Trump that he is wrong to think that Putin only wants Crimea and Donbass, two of the five Ukrainian provinces that Moscow now considers to be part of Russian territory.
The Washington Post reported in April that Trump had mentioned in a private conversation the option of allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep Crimea and Donbass in exchange for peace, which Trump’s campaign team has not confirmed.
PRANKED: UK Foreign Secretary Reveals US Does Not Support Ukraine’s Invitation to Upcoming NATO Summit
David Cameron apparently revealed that Ukraine will not participate in the next NATO summit in July, during a conversation with Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus.
The British Foreign Secretary was… pic.twitter.com/sHE7kKRXoJ
– RT_India (@RT_India_news) June 26, 2024
Cameron is heard saying that such an idea is wrong.
“Trump is convinced that it is necessary to reach an agreement and that is not because Putin wants much more,” said the British Foreign Secretary, adding that he believed that Trump, if he won the presidency, would support the winning side on the battlefield. That’s why this summer’s battles are so important.
Cameron also said Ukraine will not be invited to join the NATO military alliance at a summit next month because Washington opposes the idea.
Cameron also says he does not believe a possible French plan to send Western troops into Ukraine is the right approach because they would become a target for Putin.
Elsewhere in the call, the British foreign secretary was heard recounting a conversation with Kazakhstan’s foreign minister, who he said told him the Central Asian country feared Russia “wanted a piece” of the north. from Kazakhstan, where many Russians live.
A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement: “…We publicized the fact that this appeal was made weeks ago, to do the right thing and ensure that others were warned of the danger at the earliest opportunity. The Secretary of State understood that it was a private call with a Ukrainian politician.”
“The Russians are clearly behind the hoax and this is standard practice in intelligence operations. Disinformation is a tactic straight out of the Kremlin’s playbook to try to divert attention from its illegal activities in Ukraine and the human rights abuses being committed there,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued.
Russia denies committing war crimes in Ukraine.
Sources: AMPE, Reuters