Russian pranksters fool Boris Johnson with 18-minute prank call where they pretend to be Armenian Prime Minister

Boris Johnson reportedly held an 18-minute phone call with a prankster who claimed to be the Armenian Prime Minister.

A recording of the call was released on YouTube earlier today, and sees Mr Johnson talking about Vladimir Putin, Russia and the ongoing fallout of the Salisbury poisoning.

Mr Johnson began the conversation by congratulating the hoaxer ‘very sincerely on your remarkable success’, seemingly believing that he was talking to newly-elected Armenian leader Nikol Pashinyan.

But after offering a message of support, the call soon turned to the thorny issue of the UK’s relations with Russia.

‘I’m afraid that Russia seems to be unable to resist malign activity of one kind or another’, he is heard to say.

Mr Johnson also appears to laugh when the hoaxer claims that he is holding a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and ‘hoped he will not poison me with Novichok’.

The audio recording was released earlier today on a YouTube channel that names renowned pranksters known as ‘Vovan and Lexus’ as the two masterminds.

The phone call also saw Mr Johnson reiterating that he was ‘like almost 100% sure’ that Russia was behind the Salisbury poisoning.

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A Foreign Office spokesperson said: ‘The foreign secretary realised it was a hoax, and ended the call.

‘We checked it out and knew immediately it was a prank call.

‘The use of chemical weapons in Salisbury and Syria, and recent events in Armenia are serious matters.

‘These childish actions show the lack of seriousness of the caller and those behind him.’