Italian premier falls victim to prank call by 2 Russian comedians

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - The Italian premier fell victim to a prank telephone call by two Russian comedians before the UN General Assembly meeting in September, according to media reports Wednesday.

It occurred Sept.18 when Georgia Meloni spoke to Vovan (Vladimir Kuznetsov) and Lexus (Alexey Stolyarov). One of the two comics posed as the president of the African Union Commission (ACU), Italian state-run ANSA news agency reported.

Meloni said, among other things during the call, "there is a lot of fatigue on all sides," concerning the conflict in Ukraine and "the time is approaching when everyone will understand that we need a way out.”

"I have some ideas on how to handle this situation, but I am waiting for the right moment to put them on the table,” she said.

The Prime Minister’s Office said: “The Office of the Diplomatic Adviser to the (Premier) regrets having been misled by an impostor who passed himself off as the President of the African Union Commission and who was put in telephone contact with Premier Meloni.”