Putin ‘is not sick,’ will visit Armenia in April
Print Edition
Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend ceremonies marking 100 years since the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire in April, the Kremlin said yesterday.
Armenia is hosting the commemoration for those killed by Ottoman forces in World War I in its capital on April 24.
“Yes, he will fly to Yerevan,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that the Russian leader had discussed the issue with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian yesterday by telephone.
Putin is in good health, the Kremlin said, dismissing rumors that he was suffering from an illness after another foreign trip was canceled.
A Kazakh government source said Putin’s trip to Astana scheduled for this week was canceled because Putin had fallen ill, stirring speculation.
When asked if Putin was in good health, spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied “yes.”
“He has meetings all the time. He has meetings today, tomorrow. I don’t know which ones we will make public,” he said.
Russian politics, through the Soviet era and beyond, has traditionally been fertile ground for rumor because of the secrecy surrounding leaders, not least their health.
The daily RBK said Putin had not been seen on live television since a March 5 meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Images on the Kremlin website showed him at meetings dated Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Putin was due to meet a delegation of officials from Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia.
“They didn’t take off,” said an official familiar with the arrangements.
“They headed out in the morning but did not make it to the plane because they were told it was postponed.”
The meeting has been rescheduled for Wednesday.
The last time Putin’s health was in the spotlight was in 2012. Three sources said Putin, seen limping in public, was suffering back pain. The Kremlin denied any such ailment.
Putin was not the only subject of rumor on Wednesday.
The editor in chief of Nezavisimaya newspaper tweeted late on Wednesday that he had been told that Putin’s ally Igor Sechin, the chief executive officer of Rosneft Russia’s largest oil producer, would be fired yesterday.
A Rosneft spokesman described the remark as wrong.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
