Russian president attends public meeting, proves health rumors wrong
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has proved wrong the rumors about his deteriorating health as he meets with his Kyrgyz counterpart.
“Life would’ve been too dull without rumors,” said Putin during his meeting with Almazbek Atambayev at Konstantinov Palace near the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on Monday.
Atambayev, for his part, dismissed the rumors, saying Putin himself had given him a ride around the palace.
“The president of Russia isn’t just walking, he’s hot-rodding around, driving his guests around behind the wheel,” he stated.
The Kyrgyz president said that unfounded rumors had also circulated about his own physical well-being.
“I had happened to hear various rumors about myself, but as you can see all that (rumors) are not very correct,” Atambayev pointed out, adding, “As a Russian saying goes, you won’t live to see that happen.”
Putin’s last public appearance dated back to March 5, when he met Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
The Russian president cancelled a number of his scheduled meetings last week, including a planned visit to neighboring Kazakhstan and another crucial meeting to sign an alliance agreement with South Ossetia.
Following Putin’s suspicious absence, rumors went viral about his health. Some even said he had died, had been ousted in a coup or had traveled to see his new born baby.
Putin’s Spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected all the speculations as “March madness.”
“So everyone has now seen the paralyzed president captured by a general who has just returned from Switzerland where he was delivering a baby?” Peskov asked sarcastically after Putin’s public appearance.
Putin, 62, is now serving his third term in office as Russia’s president. He was elected twice as the country’s president between 2000 and 2008. He also served as prime minister between 2008 and 2012.
FNR/HSN/SS
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