“As far as we can tell, he’s absolutely very healthy,” Burns said during the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday. However, Burns – who was reportedly the last US official to meet with Putin before the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – admitted his determination was “not a press intelligence judgment” but a personal opinion. The CIA director’s comments contradict previous US intelligence reports that the Russian tyrant’s health was declining and he was reportedly being treated for cancer. An official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told Newsweek last month: “Putin is definitely sick.” Burns’ comments contradict earlier US intelligence reports that Putin’s health was in decline.SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images “Is Putin sick? Absolutely,” a retired Air Force officer told the agency. “But we must not let the anticipation of his death lead to preemptive action on our part. A post-Putin power vacuum could be very dangerous for the world.” Speculation was fueled when Putin appeared to be strongly holding the table for support when he met with Sergey Kulikov, chief executive of RusNano State Corp, in June. A few days earlier, the Russian leader was seen shaking and struggling to stand during an awards ceremony in the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin is “totally very healthy,” CIA Director William Burns insisted this week.The Aspen Institute At the time, the General SVR Telegram channel — reportedly run by a Kremlin military source — reported that Putin’s doctors had advised him not to make any “long-term” public appearances due to his “unstable health.” In May, reports emerged that the Russian president became very ill with blood cancer and underwent surgery to remove fluid from his abdomen. Most recently, Putin was seen coughing during a public appearance on Wednesday after visiting Iran the previous day. However, the defiant strongman quickly put it down to the air conditioning in Tehran. Earlier reports said the Russian strongman was suffering from blood cancer.Getty Images “It was very hot in Tehran yesterday, plus 38 [degrees Celsius, or over 100 degrees Fahrenheit] and the air conditioning was very strong there. So I apologize,” Putin said, according to Interfax. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has staunchly defended Putin’s health, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov disputing rumors that he is in decline on Thursday. “Everything is fine with his health,” Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters. “You know that the Ukrainian intelligence experts, as well as the Americans and the British, have been throwing out various fakes about the state of the president’s health in recent months — these are nothing but fakes,” he said.
