There is no intelligence that Vladimir Putin is unstable or in bad health, the director of the CIA has said.
There has been increasing unconfirmed media speculation that Mr Putin, who turns 70 this year, may be suffering from ill health, possibly cancer.
But William Burns said there was no evidence to suggest this, joking that he appeared “too healthy”.
The Kremlin has again dismissed the reports of Mr Putin’s ill-health as “nothing but fakes”.
It came as the US announced it would provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons.
Earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia’s military focus in Ukraine was no longer “only” the east and implied Moscow’s strategy had changed after the West supplied Ukraine with such weapons.
Taiwan National Day Celebration
