Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed days of frenzied rumors over his health and whereabouts on Monday when he appeared in public after an unusually long 10-day absence.

"We would be bored if there were no rumors," Putin said at a meeting with Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev at the Konstantinov Palace just outside St. Petersburg.

Atambayev said his Russian host had driven him around the palace before the meeting.