Twitter mocks Cameron as celebs join Ukraine phonecall

EVEN in times of international crisis there is room for humour and mockery – at least there is on Twitter, where David Cameron's "on the phone to Obama" tweet last night prompted a slew of responses poking fun at his efforts to appear statesmanlike. The British PM posted what looked suspiciously like a selfie of himself discussing the Ukraine situation on the telephone with the US President, along with a message declaring: "We are united in condemnation of Russia's actions."

It was spotted by US comedian Rob Delaney, who decided he wanted a slice of the diplomatic action, and made a play to join the high-level conference call. The fact he did not have a phone was incidental, and sparked a meme.

Before long Patrick Stewart, a former captain of the USS Enterprise and a dab hand at intergalactic crisis management, was offering his services, via a tub of Wet Ones.

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From there the conference call rapidly expanded, with more and more Twitter users joining in, and adopting a variety of different devices to do so.

Inevitably things got more and more surreal, until even the man at the centre of the crisis, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, made an appearance, along with an ostrich.