Russian pranksters posing as famous environmental activist Greta Thunberg reportedly had a phone conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and among other things asked the politician to leave NATO. The audio of the purported conversation has since been uploaded to the pranksters' YouTube channel.
The call was allegedly recorded in January amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, and days after the Islamic Republic mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane over the Iranian capital.
During the call with Prime Minister Trudeau, a third female prankster pretending to be Greta Thunberg said she was "concerned about the growing international crisis and anticipation of a Third World War". "It is very scary", said the prankster.
The PM agreed with fake Greta Thunberg and said he had spoken with world leaders and encouraged them to reduce tensions.
Then the prankster asked Trudeau to influence NATO and US President Donald Trump, whom the fake Greta called a "bastard" doing "everything to kill us".
The Canadian prime minister said he understood that "people can feel very-very strongly about" Trump.
Trudeau's words then prompted fake Greta to urge the prime minister to stop wars and leave NATO in order to create a world, where there is a place "for everyone".
"Leave NATO, drop your weapons, pick flowers, smile at nature, live like a man. We can create a world where there is a place for everyone. For white and black. Christians and Muslims. Trump and Putin. For you and me. For [British Prime Minister] Boris Johnson. For [former leader of the UK Labour Party] Jeremy Corbyn. For Terrance and Phillip, who are also known in your country", said the prankster posing as Greta Thunberg.
After that, the prankster asked Trudeau to introduce her to Terrance and Phillip, characters from the cartoon South Park, who live in Canada.
To that Trudeau responded:
"I would be happy. I'll ask my team to try and figure out how we can connect you. Because I don't have their direct coordinates with me now. But we can follow up on that".
His answer delighted fake Greta Thunberg "Oh, that's nice. So you can introduce me to Terence and Philipp? Would it be possible?", the prankster said.
And at that point Trudeau apparently understood that he had been pranked.
"Wait, Terrance and Phillip, were they not in South Park? I don't personally know them. I believe they are South Park parodies of Canadians", he said before quickly ending the call. "It's a pleasure to talk to you, Greta. I look forward to talking to you again sometime soon. Take care".
Vladimir Kuznetsov and Aleksei Stolyarov, who introduce themselves as Vovan and Lexus respectively, claimed to have pranked scores of celebrities and politicians, including heads of state like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
They are alleged to have fooled singer Elton John, pretending to be Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the conversation the pranksters asked the musician to arrange a meeting to discuss gay rights in Russia.
