Vladimir Putin health fears as dictator seen limping from plane before Donald Trump meeting

Russian leader Vladimir Putin's health has come under scrutiny after he was seen limping during as he prepared to meet Donald Trump.

The dictator was forced to take a pause halfway down the stairs of his presidential plane tonight before meeting the US President. It happened just before their crucial talks in Alaska, aimed at forging a peace plan for Ukraine.

Rumours regarding Putin's health have been circulating for years, and his arrival in Anchorage will only add fuel to the fire. The 72-year-old seemed to wince as he walked along the red carpet to greet Mr Trump, where they eventually exchanged pleasantries and handshakes. It comes after Donald Trump's mental state 'clear to see' as lawmakers urged to 'act now'.

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Earlier this year Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky sparked speculation aboutthe dictator's health after he claimed the Russian despot "will die soon". Rumours about the 72-year-old's health have swirled in recent years, with former intelligence chiefs and sources within Russia among those to have alleged he could be seriously - or even terminally - ill.

Some commentators have claimed that his decision to invade Ukraine in 2022 was in part prompted by a growing sense of his own mortality, with the former KGB man said to have become increasingly concerned with cementing his legacy after becoming paranoid during the Covid pandemic. Here's everything we know about Putin's health:

One of the leading theories about Putin's health is that he has a form of Parkinson's disease. Sir Richard Dearlove, a former head of MI6, said last year that ongoing concerns over the Russian president's health were likely down to the progressive disorder, which begins with shaking symptoms before leading reduced mobility and brain damage.

Responding to a question about "how well or sick" the Kremlin leader is, the former MI6 boss responded: "I do not have a clear answer to that, but I have contacts and friends still in eastern Europe who think that there is something fundamentally wrong with him medically. But I’m not a clinician.”

He added that it was "probably Parkinson’s, which of course has different representations, different variations, different seriousness. But if the man is paranoid - and I think the murder of Navalny might suggest a certain paranoia - that is one of the symptoms."

Many of the health rumours have been prompted by footage of the Russian president jittering and trembling involuntarily. The first reports of this began around 2022, and have persisted in the years as more videos have emerged of him twitching his arms and legs during televised appearances.

Putin was seen shaking "uncontrollably" during a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in February, and at one point appeared to use his hand to try and stop his hand moving. In November, he appeared unable to control his movements while giving an hour-long speech at a podium in Kazakhstan. Visible spasms began in his left foot, before spreading to both legs and feet.