Washington - Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely healthy despite rumours that the Russian president may be unwell, CIA Director William Burns said during an Aspen Security Forum interview.
“No, I mean there are lots of rumours about President Putin’s health and as far as we can tell, he’s entirely too healthy — not a formal intelligence judgment,” Burns said on Wednesday when asked if he considers Putin unhealthy or unstable.
The question came following rumours claiming Putin to be unwell amid Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in June dismissed during an interview with NBC News the rumours that Putin is ill and noted that the Russian president's health is still good enough to enjoy playing hockey and other sports.
Burns added the he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to restore Russia as a great power by recreating a sphere of influence in its neighbourhood.
“He [Putin] is convinced that his destiny as Russia's leader is to restore Russia as a great power. He believes the key to doing that is to recreate a sphere of influence in Russia's neighbourhood and he does not believe you can do that without controlling Ukraine and its choices, and that's what produced I think this horrible war,” Burns said Wednesday.
On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics requested help to defend them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops.
The United States and its allies imposed comprehensive sanctions against Russia and have supplied Ukraine with offensive and defensive weapons worth multiple billions of dollars.
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