A mic caught Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping discussing ways to extend their life amid a series of long-running claims about the world leaders’ health
Vladimir Putin has been heard rambling about becoming immortal during a summit with fellow dictator Kim Jong-un and Chinese premier Xi Jinping.
The Russian and other world leaders have gathered in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. According to a translator, tyrant Kim Jong-un, Putin and Xi Jinping were all overheard plotting how to live on, and the trio discussed the use of organ transplants to extend life.
Putin and Xi Jinping were caught chatting about the chances of achieving immortality, alongside Kim Jong-un. The North Korean leader and Russian counterpart have both endured health strugglers in recent years. Their conversation comes amid long-standing allegations of China illegally storing organs from detained minority groups.
“Earlier, people rarely lived to 70, but these days at 70 you are still a child,” Mr Xi told Putin, according to the translator. Putin responded: “With the development of biotechnology, human organs can be continuously transplanted and people can live younger and younger, and even achieve immortality.”
Xi then told him: “Predictions are, this century, there is also a chance of living to 150.” Human rights experts from the UK said four years ago that they had “credible information that minority groups were forced to undergo medical tests and organ harvesting without their consent”.
They said: “We are deeply concerned by reports of discriminatory treatment of the prisoners or detainees based on their ethnicity and religion or belief.
“According to the allegations received, the most common organs removed from the prisoners are reportedly hearts, kidneys, livers, corneas and, less commonly, parts of livers.
“This form of trafficking with a medical nature allegedly involves health sector professionals, including surgeons, anaesthetists and other medical specialists.”
Putin’s health has come under scrutiny after he was seen limping during as he prepared to meet Donald Trump last month. He was forced to take a pause halfway down the stairs of his plane before greeting the US President.
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 his decision to invade Ukraine in 2022 was in part prompted by a growing sense of his own mortality.