Kremlin denies rumor Putin is seriously ill

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is denying rumors that President Vladimir Putin is seriously ill as reports are surfacing that the Russian leader may be battling cancer or Parkinson's disease.

"You know, President Putin appears in public every day," Lavrov told French outlet TF1 during a translated interview Sunday.

The Kremlin official pointed to videos and speeches from Putin. 

"You can see him on the screens, read his speeches, listen to his speeches," Lavrov insisted. "I don't think sane people can distinguish any symptoms of illness in this man."

While speculation has circulated around Putin's health for several years, rumors have intensified since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February. 

Former spy Christopher Steele, famous for his discredited dossier on former President Donald Trump, told Sky News earlier this month: "Certainly, from what we're hearing from sources in Russia and elsewhere, is that Putin is, in fact, quite seriously ill.

“It's not clear exactly what this illness is - whether it's incurable or terminal, or whatever. But certainly, I think it's part of the equation,” Steele added.

Ukrainian Major General Kyrylo Budano also told Sky News several weeks ago that a Russian coup is underway and that Putin is in a "very bad psychological and physical condition and he is very sick." 

New Lines Magazine reported on May 12 that it had "obtained an audio recording of an oligarch close to the Kremlin who describes Putin as 'very ill with blood cancer.'"