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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Russia's Putin reappears after 10-day absence | Russia's Putin reappears after 10-day absence |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Russian President Vladimir Putin has appeared in public for the first time since 5 March, quelling intense speculation about his health. | Russian President Vladimir Putin has appeared in public for the first time since 5 March, quelling intense speculation about his health. |
| He was meeting Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev in St Petersburg. | He was meeting Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev in St Petersburg. |
| Commenting on the rumours about his health, Mr Putin said "things would be boring without gossip", RIA Novosti news agency reported. | Commenting on the rumours about his health, Mr Putin said "things would be boring without gossip", RIA Novosti news agency reported. |
| Earlier, Mr Putin ordered Russia's navy on to a state of full combat readiness in the Arctic. | Earlier, Mr Putin ordered Russia's navy on to a state of full combat readiness in the Arctic. |
| Russia says the navy drills involve 56 warships, planes and 38,000 personnel. | Russia says the navy drills involve 56 warships, planes and 38,000 personnel. |
| The Russian TV news channel Rossiya 24 showed some brief footage of Mr Putin at the meeting, without sound. | |
| According to a tweet from the meeting in St Petersburg, Mr Atambayev said that Mr Putin "just took me for a little drive - he was at the wheel - nearby here, and I can confirm that he's in excellent form". | According to a tweet from the meeting in St Petersburg, Mr Atambayev said that Mr Putin "just took me for a little drive - he was at the wheel - nearby here, and I can confirm that he's in excellent form". |
| Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov - quoted in a Russian journalist's tweet - said St Petersburg was chosen as a convenient venue for Mr Atambayev, whose daughter is studying there. | Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov - quoted in a Russian journalist's tweet - said St Petersburg was chosen as a convenient venue for Mr Atambayev, whose daughter is studying there. |
| Mr Peskov was also quoted as saying the "little drive" mentioned by the Kyrgyz leader lasted about 20 minutes, and Mr Putin "showed what a beautiful place Strelnya is" - the leaders were meeting at a tsarist palace in Strelnya, outside St Petersburg. | |
| Mr Putin's unusually long absence from public view had sparked a flurry of rumours. There were suggestions that he might be seriously ill, that he might be facing a revolt inside the Kremlin or even that he might have been attending the birth of a love child. | |
| The rumours started after a trip to Kazakhstan, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, was postponed. His last public appearance was on 5 March when he met Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. | |
| Crimea anniversary | |
| His reappearance coincides with the first anniversary of a controversial referendum in Crimea, which Russia used as justification for annexing the Ukrainian peninsula. | |
| In a pre-recorded interview which aired on Sunday, Mr Putin said he had been ready to put nuclear weapons on standby at the time. | |
| The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, issued a sharp statement on Crimea on Monday, condemning Russia's actions. | |
| "The EU reaffirms its deep concern at the continuous military build-up and deterioration of the human rights situation in the Crimean peninsula, including the denial of free speech and the persecution of persons belonging to minorities," she said in a statement. | |
| Ms Mogherini said the EU "will remain committed to fully implement its non-recognition policy, including through restrictive measures". | |
| Russia's Arctic military drills come amid heightened tensions with Nato over Russia's military involvement in eastern Ukraine, where an uneasy truce is in place between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government troops. | |
| Nato has sent extra forces to the three Baltic states, which have large Russian minorities and were ruled from Moscow in the Cold War. |