Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has become the latest victim of a pair of notorious Russian pranksters who called him while posing as Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
In the phone call published on the Vovan and Lexus comic duo’s YouTube page this week, the fake Greta grills Trudeau about NATO, other world leaders and her fears of a “growing international crisis and anticipation of the third world war.”
When Trudeau praises Thunberg’s 2019 visit to Montreal, saying it “helped define” the results of Canada's federal election that year, the fake Greta says: “But leave NATO. Drop your weapons. Pick flowers. Smile at nature.”
“I also dream of a world in which soldiers are not necessary, but we don’t live in that world yet, unfortunately,” Trudeau can be heard responding.
The 10-minute conversation ends after the fake Greta asks if Trudeau can introduce her to Terrance and Phillip, a fictional Canadian comedy duo from “South Park” who speak with an exaggerated accent and sophomoric toilet humor.
“Wait, were they not in South Park?” Trudeau responds after initially promising to connect her with them through his team. “I believe they are South Park parodies of Canadians.”
Trudeau’s office told Canada’s CTV broadcaster that the call dates back to January, when world leaders reached out to offer condolences over the deaths of Canadian citizens onboard a Ukrainian passenger plane shot down by Iran.
“The Prime Minister determined the call was fake and promptly ended it,” the office was quoted as saying Tuesday.
Vovan and Lexus, the moniker used by Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, are known in Russia for targeting Kremlin opponents with prank calls. In recent months, they have targeted foreign political and royal figures like French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prince Harry.
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