The conversation with Zoran Zaev is not cut, edited or taken out of context, Russian comedian Aleksey Stolyarov-Lexus, who pretended to be Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the conversations with Zoran Zaev, told Republika. In the conversations, Stolyarov suggests Zaev to give 100,000 euros bribe to Patriarch Bartholomew, which Zaev promptly and without question accepts, but later the prime minister claimed that that part of the conversation had been cut and taken out of context.

If Zaev disagrees with us, it would be best for him to bring out his version of the conversation. We did not get his comments out of context. We know very well that if we do so, it will be a problem for us, for our reputation. We did not process that part of the conversation. But let’s ask him whether he can give his own record of the conversation, Stolyarov told Republika.

Stolyarov says that even Zaev himself in his political rise used wiretaps from other politicians, adding that the content of the conversations they had with him showed that Zaev is not really clean.

He used such tactics. We are also using them, but we did not tap him talking with other leaders. We just published our conversation with him, we did not use any special machinery, we just published our conversation with him. He pretends to be a smart politician, and he should be prepared for any provocation. Zaev himself used dirty tricks, in our conversation he talks about corruption, for various other things. It tells you that he is not really clean. It was not our goal, but Zaev showed his face. I would not like to say if he is right or wrong, but he showed who he is. He did not present himself in a very good light, at least according to me, maybe his voters would think differently, adds Stolyarov.