The UK Foreign Secretary has a video call with Charlton

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron even had a video call with a man claiming to be Ukraine’s former president Petro Poroshenko, but those communications were later classified as a hoax, as he opened his office on Friday.

“Even though it really appeared to be Mr. Poroshenko in the video, after the conversation, the secretary for international relations became suspicious,” the office said in a statement.

“The department has now investigated and confirmed that it was not true and that the messages and video call were a hoax.”

The report did not detail what was discussed, other than to say the author asked Cameron for other contact details.

The secretariat said Cameron was publicizing the fraud “if the video with the foreign secretary is manipulated and later used, and to ensure others are aware of the risk”.

“While he regrets his mistake, the Secretary of International Relations believes it is important to condemn this behavior and step up efforts to combat the use of disinformation,” he said.

The United Kingdom, which will hold a national election on July 4, has not said who is responsible for the fraud.

Cameron is not the country’s first foreign minister to fall for the hoax. In 2018, Boris Johnson debated international relations and poetry with a dummy pretending to be the Armenian prime minister. In 2022, the United Kingdom accused Russia of inviting two ministers and a third.