Russian President Vladimir Putin is self-isolating as a precaution after several members of his entourage fell ill with Covid-19, but is “absolutely” healthy and does not have the disease himself, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Putin, 68, will not travel to Tajikistan this week for planned regional security meetings expected to focus on Afghanistan, but will take part by video conference instead.

 The Kremlin said Putin took the decision to self-isolate after completing a busy round of meetings on Monday, which included face-to-face Kremlin talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He also met Russian Paralympians and travelled to western Russia on Monday.

Reuters