Photo of Elton John performing, by Andrew Potter

Elton John says he received a phone call Monday from Russian President Vladimir Putin after the singer requested a meeting to discuss gay rights.

John shared on Instagram that Putin had reached out by phone, adding that he "[looks] forward to meeting with [Putin] face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia."

The phone call comes as just last week John openly criticized Russia's anti-gay laws and Putin's past suggestions that gay people are pedophiles. Speaking to the BBC on Saturday, the musician slammed Putin's "isolating and prejudiced" views of the gay community.

While John's Instagram post suggested he was optimistic, there was no immediate confirmation of whether Putin had indeed agreed to meet in person.