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Putin makes first public appearance since March 5 Putin returns to public eye with quip on rumors: Life ‘boring without gossip’
(35 minutes later)
Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first public appearance in more than 10 days on Monday, following intense speculation about his health or other reasons he was out of view.Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first public appearance in more than 10 days on Monday, following intense speculation about his health or other reasons he was out of view.
Putin was seen meeting with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev in the Constantine Palace outside St. Petersburg, the Reuters news agency reported. It was Putin’s first public event since March 5. “It would be boring without gossip,” Putin told reporters outside St. Petersburg in his first public event since March 5.
On Thursday, Putin’s spokesman announced that the president would not attend a meeting with the Federal Security Service, which he usually attends. Putin also postponed at trip to Kazakhstan. But the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, insisted Putin was healthy. But he offered no other immediate details on why he missed a series of meetings and postponed one state visit during the period.
There was been yet no official comment from the Kremlin on why Putin was out of the public eye. The 62-year-old Putin showed no apparent signs of ill health as he met with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev in the Constantine Palace outside St. Petersburg, the Associated Press reported.
Rumors about about Putin’s vanishing act [Putin’s macho image gains followers]
On Thursday, Putin’s spokesman announced that the president would not attend a meeting with the Federal Security Service, which he usually attends. Putin also postponed at trip to Kazakhstan, which has been rescheduled for later this week.
But the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, insisted last week that Putin was healthy.
There was been yet no official comment from the Kremlin on why Putin was out of the public eye — a rare absence for a leader who has built a reputation for hands-on leadership and personal vigor.
In comments apparently encouraged by the Kremlin, the Kyrgyz president gave a personal appraisal of Putin’s health, saying the Russian leader “drove me around the grounds, he himself sat at the wheel,” the Reuters news agency reported.
Putin’s disappearing act came amid a series of challenges facing the Kremlin, including further blows to the oil-dependent economy and furor from political opponents following the slaying of a main Putin critic, Boris Nemtsov, late last month. Russian authorities claim Nemtsov was killed by Islamists from Chechnya, but Nemtsov’s backers have dismissed the arrests as a potential cover-up.
Putin was last seen in public when he hosted Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The Kremlin said the president had other official meetings in the following days, but there were no independent confirmation that Putin attended the sessions.
There has been previous speculation about Putin’s health. In 2012, rumors erupted after he was absent from public life for several days. No explanations were given at the time.
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