Vladimir Putin cancer reports: Kremlin rep furiously dismisses speculation over Russian leader's health, tells media to 'bite your tongue'

Dmitry Peskov, a representative for Putin, angrily responded to speculation in the US media over the 62-year-old leader’s wellbeing

(AP)

Vladimir Putin does not have pancreatic cancer, and those reporting that the Russian President’s health is less than utterly perfect should ‘bite their tongue’, a Kremlin spokesperson has angrily retorted.

Dmitry Peskov, a representative for Putin, responded to speculation in the US media over the 62-year-old leader’s wellbeing in a furious manner on Wednesday.

According to news agency RIA Novosti, he told journalists they “shouldn't bank on it” and should “bite your tongue” before adding, slightly less aggressively, that “everything’s fine”.

His comments follow an article titled “Putin's Health Woes” in the New York Post last Friday, which cited a number of “sources” close to Putin, including an unnamed German doctor, appearing to confirm that the President was currently receiving treatment for the often terminal form of cancer.

“The doc had been trying various treatments, including steroid shots, which would explain Putin's puffy appearance,” journalist Richard Johnson wrote.

“But I'm told the physician quit recently, confiding that he was mistreated by Putin's security detail.”

The denial comes just days after Putin accused the United States of being responsible for almost all of the wars in the world.

During a speech in Sochi, the President said that Moscow does not see Washington as a threat, but that he believed US foreign policy has created chaos.

Citing the wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria, he said: “They are throwing their might to remove the risks they have created themselves, and they are paying an increasing price.

“I think that the policies of the ruling elite are erroneous. I am convinced that they go against our interests, undermine trust in the United States,” he said without offering specific examples.

“The probability of a series of acute conflicts with indirect and even direct involvement of major powers has sharply increased,” Putin said. “Ukraine is an example of such conflicts that influence a global balance of forces, and, I think, not the last one.”