Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov
Vladimir Putin and Sergei LavrovSputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday denied speculations that President Vladimir Putin was ill, saying there were no signs pointing to any ailment, AFP reported.

Answering a question from France's broadcaster TF1, Russia's top diplomat said, "I don't think that sane people can see in this person signs of some kind of illness or ailment."

Lavrov said that Putin, who will turn 70 in October, appeared in public "every day.

"You can watch him on screens, read and listen to his speeches," Lavrov added. "I leave it to the conscience of those who spread such rumors."

Lavrov’s comments followed the latest report on Putin’s health, in which a Russian intelligence official claimed that the Russian President has been given just three years to live by doctors.

The officer claimed the Russian President has “a severe form of rapidly progressing cancer”, according to a report in The Independent.

In April, documents published in The Telegraph claimed that the Russian leader was visited by a thyroid cancer doctor 35 times at his luxury Black Sea retreat, and regularly takes steroids.

The Kremlin has denied that Putin, 69, has or had cancer but Proekt, a Russian banned investigative news organization, said it had proof this was a lie.

In 2020, there were reports that Putin is planning on resigning the following year. The report cited rumors that Putin is suffering from Parkinson’s disease.