To avoid ‘unnecessary’ speculation, the Kremlin says it’s done telling the media about Putin’s planned events

The Kremlin says it’s done informing the media about Vladimir Putin’s schedule. According to the president’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, the decision was made “to avoid unnecessary discussions about the cancellation of events that were never finalized in the first place.”

Peskov explained that the Kremlin will continue to list events occasionally in Putin’s public schedule, but it will no longer officially confirm the president’s participation, to prevent speculation about Putin, should he later not appear at a particular event.

In the spring of 2015, several days passed when Vladimir Putin did not appear in public, and a planned meeting with the presidents of Belarus and Kazakhstan was canceled unexpectedly. At the time, the Kremlin said Putin was meeting with various officials behind closed doors, but some in the media speculated that photographs of these meetings, released by the Kremlin, were taken earlier than was claimed.

Some Russian and foreign media have speculated that Putin’s disappearances from the public eye are the result of possible health problems, though the Kremlin has strongly denied these rumors.

Earlier this month, the president canceled a planned trip to Russia’s east, leading to similar speculation about the reasons for the sudden schedule change.