Vladimir Putin’s top Russian diplomat has responded to speculation over the president’s health saying no “sane person can suspect any signs of an illness or ailment”.
The claims came as the Kremlin has recently been stung into denying speculation that the Russian president was sick from terminal illnesses.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - Putin’s top diplomat - publicly addressed swirling rumours that the Russian leader is suffering from cancer, Parkinson’s disease or a schizoaffective disorder.
He told France’s TF1 television: “President Vladimir Putin makes public appearances on a daily basis.
“You can see him on TV screens, read and listen to his speeches.
“I don’t think that a sane person can suspect any signs of an illness or ailment in this man.
“I’ll leave it on the conscience of those who disseminate such rumours despite daily opportunities for everyone to see how he looks.”
The footage of Lavrov’s denial of health problems was also released by the Kremlin.
Putin’s health and private life are taboo subjects in Russia, and are almost never discussed in public by the state media.
Yet opposition media outlets and Western experts have concluded that Putin is suffering from illnesses, and that a careful media strategy uses pre-recorded or canned footage to hide his absences for treatment.
Just days ago a Russian intelligence source said Putin had been given a maximum of three years to live by doctors.
The FSB officer said the Russian president, 69, “has a severe form of rapidly progressing cancer.”
And he added: “He has no more than two to three years to stay alive.”
The spy said the disease means Putin is also losing his sight.
He revealed: “We are told he is suffering from headaches and when he appears on TV he needs pieces of paper with everything written in huge letters to read what he’s going to say.
“They are so big each page can only hold a couple of sentences. His eyesight is seriously worsening.
“And his limbs are now also shaking uncontrollably.”
Last week Putin met with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi and was caught on camera awkwardly twisting his feet while the pair sat down for talks.
The previous week he was also spotting making odd movements on TV amid reports he is suffering from Parkinson’s and MS on top of cancer.
Ukrainian spymaster Kyrylo Budanov said: “He has several serious illnesses, one of which is cancer.”
Putin’s terminal prognosis emerged in a secret message from the Russian spy to FSB defector Boris Karpichkov now hiding out from Putin’s assassins in Britain.
The spook told him Putin has to squint at even the huge lettering he is given and is terrifying staff with abrupt mood changes.
The message added: “He won’t wear glasses to help because that would be a sign of weakness.
“He used to be composed with subordinates but now he has outbursts of uncontrolled fury. He has gone completely nuts and trusts almost no one.”
Reports last week citing Kremlin sources claimed that Putin underwent successful cancer surgery 14 days ago.
Former MI6 Russia desk officer Christopher Steele said Putin cannot hold meetings without breaks for treatment.
He added: “He’s constantly accompanied around the place by a team of doctors.
“The Kremlin is a bit like a shark pool. They all swim around and if they smell blood in the water they start fighting.”
It has allegedly gotten so bad that spymasters closest to Putin are said to be actively talking about his successor and jostling for control of the handover.
Putin’s terminal prognosis emerged in a secret message from the Russian spy to FSB defector Boris Karpichkov now hiding out from Putin’s assassins in Britain.
There have also been claims that Putin “doubles” are used for some “appearances”, a tactic dating from Soviet times for Kremlin leaders.
