LONDON (Reuters) – The Kremlin assured on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was in good health, dismissing rumors that he was unwell.
While Vladimir Putin’s health has been the subject of much speculation in recent months on the Western side, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said news reports suggesting he was ill were “nothing ‘other than impostures’.
Vladimir Putin had a fit of coughing on Wednesday during a public appearance, which he allegedly explained by a mild cold contracted during his visit to Tehran the day before, according to comments reported by the Interfax news agency.
“It was very hot in Tehran yesterday (Tuesday-Editor’s note), more than 38 (degrees Celsius) and the air conditioning was very strong there, so I apologize,” said the Russian president on Wednesday according to Interfax.
Attention to the state of health of Vladimir Putin, 69, has increased in recent months, with observers noting, for example, changes in his physical appearance or his stiff gait during certain public appearances, as well as the long tables used in the Kremlin to keep Russian or foreign interlocutors (including Emmanuel Macron) at a distance, as a precaution against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.
Rumors have emerged that the Russian president is suffering from cancer or a serious illness, but the culture of secrecy characteristic of power in Moscow does not allow them to be confirmed or denied.
Asked about this at a security forum on Wednesday in the United States, the director of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, judged that Vladimir Putin was “in very good health”.
(Reuters reporting, editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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