SundarPichai I never used Telegram FOSS, but allegedly you can't create account from it either. Their website APK also doesn't seem to allow it. It just throws you into the all familiar loop of "verification code sent to your other device".
I created one very recently and only Play Store version worked. I'm not sure whether it requires Google Play or if just pulling Play store version from Aurora Store will work. Once you have an account you can sign in into anything you want and use it from there.