Putin vanishes as Zelensky says Russian dictator ‘running out of time’ | World | News
Vladimir Putin “doesn’t have too much time” left, Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed, after the Russian dictator vanished from public view for the past week. In recent days, the Moscow state media has broadcast canned – or pre-recorded – footage of the Kremlin dictator meeting officials, it is believed.
It is unclear if his latest absence is for health or other reasons, but Mr Zelensky, during a Politico interview at the Munich Security Conference, said: “I’m younger than Putin”. The audience laughed, but the Ukrainian president, 48, said: “No, no, believe me this is important. “He doesn’t have too much time, you know. “Not too much time. He has, God bless, not too much time.” Putin, who turned 73 on October 7, appears to have been absent since a speech on February 5.
However, it is unclear what Mr Zelensky was alluding to.
However, lately he has appeared energetic with a busy work schedule despite earlier unproven rumours of serious health conditions. Health concerns were, however, raised in November after the Russian dictator appeared with “swollen and sore” hands, sparking speculation that the ageing leader could be suffering from a myriad of health complaints including phlebitis, or even cancer.
This came as Donald Trump called on Zelensky to make concessions to Putin, once more claiming that, despite contrary evidence, Russia is seeking a peace deal in a war soon to enter its fifth year.
“Russia wants to make a deal and Zelensky’s going to have to get moving,” said the US president. “Otherwise he’s going to miss a great opportunity. He’s going to have to move.”
Russia is still demanding Ukraine cede territory in Donbas, which Putin’s forces have failed to seize during the war, a condition Ukraine refuses to accept ahead of new peace talks in Geneva next week. Mr Zelensky hit back that Ukraine, unlike Russia, has already made concessions – the largest being to accept that Putin is not jailed for war crimes.
“We have made a lot of compromises,” he said. “Putin and his friends – they are not in prison. This is the biggest compromise the world made already.”
In a new rebuff to Mr Trump, the Kremlin has reinstated hardline aide Vladimir Medinsky – who led Russia’s delegation in failed peace talks with Kyiv in 2022 – as chief negotiator for the Geneva talks, replacing GRU military intelligence chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov.
