Sir Elton John says he is currently arranging to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss gay rights, the BBC reports.

The pop star has said he wants to talk to Mr Putin about his “ridiculous” attitude to the issue – but previously fell victim to prank callers pretending to be the Russian leader.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, the star said he had now received a genuine call from the president.

“He was very affable, he was very apologetic, he was very sincere.

“As soon as I can get a date in my diary that coincides with him, then I will be going… to Moscow and I will meet him,” he told the Today Programme.

“Whether or not I make any progress, I don’t know. I’m not going to go straight in there and go, ‘come on, you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that.’ This is the starting of a dialogue and you don’t get anywhere without a dialogue.”

President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with British rock star Elton John, Krmelin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday commenting on the singer’s plans to meet with the Russian leader next year, TASS reports.

“This is not an issue for negotiations,” Peskov said. “The president said he was ready to meet with Elton John. We hope they’ll meet when their schedules cross.”