Pranksters posed as Zelensky in a name with the Federal Reserve chairman.

WASHINGTON — Pranksters posing as President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine tricked the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, into having a dialog with them in January, in keeping with video clips coated on Russian state tv and posted on-line.

The ruse — apparently carried out by two Russian comedians who help President Vladimir V. Putin — concerned asking Mr. Powell questions concerning the American and world economic system. His feedback look like consistent with what he commonly expresses in public.

A Fed spokesperson stated Mr. Powell participated in a dialog in January with somebody who misrepresented himself because the Ukrainian president, noting that the dialogue happened within the context of the central financial institution’s help for the Ukrainian folks. The spokesperson stated no delicate or confidential info was mentioned.

The video seems to have been edited, and the Fed stated it couldn’t affirm its accuracy. The matter has been referred to regulation enforcement, the spokesperson stated.

The two males who carried out the prank have additionally tricked different world leaders, together with Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, and Angela Merkel, Germany’s former chancellor.