russian president vladimir putin on monday reappeared in public after an unusually long 10 day absence that unleashed frenzied speculation about the whereabouts and health of the russian strongman looking pale, putin met with kyrgyz president almazbek atambayev at the sumptuous konstantinov's palace just outside saint petersburg, an afp correspondent reported putin, commenting on suggestions that he had been forced to lie low because of ill health, said that life without gossip would be 'boring' scroll down for video  president vladimir putin on monday reappeared in public in a meeting with kyrgyz president almazbek atambayev (left) after an unusually long 10 day absence that unleashed frenzied speculation about the whereabouts and health of the russian strongman  the bishkek leader claimed putin was fit, and that rumours of his ill health were unfounded  'it would be boring without gossip,' putin said in his first public appearance since march 5 he refused to explain his absence the bishkek leader claimed putin was fit   and in macho mode 'the president of russia isn't just walking, he's hot rodding around, driving his guests around behind the wheel,' said atambayev 'vladimir vladimirovich (putin) just drove me around the territory that's just so there's no rumours' after studying images and video of the meeting body language expert judi james, author of the you code: what your habits say about you, told mailonline that the poor health rumours might be true after all she said: 'putin's face looks shiny and although the smile is held in place, his eye expression lacks some of its normal steel and arrogance 'his stride has most of its normal energy, but his left arm could be showing signs of weakness in some poses, it hangs lifelessly down at his side and when he sits he appears to support it with his right hand, although he can clearly use it as he shows when he unbuttons his jacket 'his leg splay is wide, suggesting alpha confidence, and he leads the conversation with his usual determination and active head movements 'his posture in the chair is slightly slumped to the right though and when he finishes talking his legs pump backwards and forward as though he might be keen to see an end to the meeting' his reappearance came after it was revealed that he was ready to place his nuclear attack forces on alert when he seized crimea a year ago the russian president's revelation was aired in a pre recorded tv interview broadcast at the end of last week after studying images and video of the meeting body language expert judi james (pictured) told mailonline the poor health rumours might be true  after studying images and video of the meeting body language expert judi james, author of the you code: what your habits say about you, told mailonline that the poor health rumours might be true after all she said: 'putin's body language is normally a blend of inscrutable facial expression tinged with the odd cynical looking smile and swaggering machismo in terms of his gait on the surface there is little difference in this latest appearance after a puzzling gap when he appeared to go awol, although some more subliminal non verbal clues suggest the rumours about his health might just have legs 'putin's face looks shiny and although the smile is held in place his eye expression lacks some of its normal steel and arrogance his stride has most of its normal energy, but his left arm could be showing signs of weakness in some poses it hangs lifelessly down at his side and when he sits he appears to support it with his right hand, although he can clearly use it as he shows when he unbuttons his jacket 'his leg splay is wide, suggesting alpha confidence and he leads the conversation with his usual determination and active head movements his posture in the chair is slightly slumped to the right though and when he finishes talking his legs pump backwards and forward as though he might be keen to see an end to the meeting' putin, commenting on suggestions that he had been forced to lie low because of ill health, said that life without rumours would be boring  putin  and atambayev enter a hall ahead of their meeting at the constantine  palace  putin and his kyrgyz counterpart almazbek atambayev shake hands during their meeting at the constantine palace putin laughed off suggestions he had been forced to lie low because of poor health  his reappearance came after it was revealed that he was ready to place his nuclear attack forces on alert when he seized crimea a year ago  putin refused to explain why he had been absent for 10 days  in the documentary – titled crimea: way back home – he claimed the area was russia's 'historic territory', even though under international law it remains ukrainian putin went on to say: 'russian people live there, they are in danger and we cannot leave them' he also claimed that he feared they would have been overrun by 'a nationalist bulldozer' from kiev, and said he could not have left the area and the people who live there 'to whims of fate' however the president explained that he knew the west could have intervened, and had been 'ready' to put his nuclear arsenal on alert, adding: 'i talked with colleagues and told them that crimea is our historic territory we were ready to do it' the kremlin has since claimed it has the right to station nuclear weapons on the crimean peninsula putin's absence occurred amid rumours of illness, a coup, or his olympic gymnast 'lover' alina kabayeva giving birth to a child in switzerland he vanished soon after aides to one of his key allies were blamed for ordering the assassination of one of the kremlin's most outspoken critics, boris nemtsov
crimea 10 day putin atambayev almazbek atambayev kyrgyz
putin reappeared in public after an unusually long 10 day absence  he appeared in a meeting with kyrgyz president almazbek atambayev  atambayev said putin was 'hot rodding around, driving his guests' follows admission he was ready to put nuclear  forces on alert over crimea  putin's absence occurred amid rumours of illness, a coup and a love child  but body language expert believes rumours about poor health could in fact be true 