Russian President Vladimir Putin put himself under self-isolation today after several people in his "immediate circle" were infected with the Covid-19 virus.  

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, 68-year-old Putin is "absolutely healthy" and also tested negative for the virus.

The Russian President is fully vaccinated with Sputnik V and also held several virtual meetings on Tuesday. It was reported that, during a videoconference with government officials and members of the ruling United Russia party, Putin said that several people in his "immediate circle" were infected with the virus, including a staff member who he was in close contact with throughout Monday.

"Several people have fallen ill in my innermost circle, one of these people is a person who works in direct proximity with me. He was vaccinated," Russian news agency Tass quoted Putin as saying on Tuesday.

"It seems that he took too long to get revaccinated.," Putin added while revealing that the close contact's antibody titer had dropped when he fell ill three days after receiving a revaccination shot.

Putin had also met visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Kremlin yesterday.

Peskov also told reporters that a meeting between Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi has been postponed "until the next opportunity" due to the Russian leader’s self-isolation.

Putin was also scheduled to travel to Tajikistan this week to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Leaders Summit in Dushanbe.

He will now be virtually participating in a session of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO, a session of the SCO Council of heads of state and a joint session of the SCO and the CSTO heads of state.

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