Putin reappears with 'boring without gossip' comment

Strelna: Russian President Vladimir Putin reappeared in public on Monday after an unusually long 10-day absence, saying: "It would be boring without gossip."

Putin, in his first public appearance since March 5, commented on suggestions he had been forced to lie low because of ill health.

His absence had unleashed frenzied speculation on the whereabouts and health of the Russian strongman.

Looking somewhat pale, Putin shook hands with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev at the start of a meeting at the sumptuous Konstantinov's Palace just outside Saint Petersburg, an AFP correspondent reported.

With inputs from AFP