Russia President Vladimir Putin made his first public appearance on Monday after an 11-day absence that sparked wild rumours he was gravely ill, recovering from plastic surgery, attending the birth of his lovechild in Switzerland, overthrown by hardliners in a coup, or dead.
Putin, who had last appeared alongside Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on March 5, attended a scheduled meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Almazbek Atambayev, at the KonstantinovskyPalace in St Petersburg.
Sitting alongside Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev at the ConstantinePalace, a smiling Putin told reporters, “It’s boring without gossip.”
But he offered no other immediate details on why he missed a series of meetings and postponed one state visit during the period.
Images: Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the Constantine Palace in St Petersburg. Photograph: Anatoly Maltsev/Pool/Reuters
