Vladimir Putin is in good health, according to the Kremlin, dismissing what it called false reports that the Russian President was unwell.

"Everything is fine with his health," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, replying to a question during a daily briefing.

"You know that Ukrainian information specialists, and American and British ones, have been throwing out various fakes about the state of the president's health in recent months—these are nothing but fakes," they added.

Mr Putin had coughed during a recent public appearance, when a Russian news agency quoted him as saying he had caught a slight cold during his visit to Iran.

"It was very hot in Tehran yesterday, plus 38 [degrees Celsius], and the air conditioning was very strong there. So I apologise," Mr Putin was quoted as saying.

International scrutiny of the 69-year-old's health has intensified over recent months, including when he was photographed meeting foreign and Russian officials while seated at opposite ends of long tables as a precaution against COVID. At times he has also appeared to walk stiffly.

Since launching Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February he has frequently been in public view, maintaining a full schedule of meetings and calls including two foreign trips within the past month.

CIA Director William Burns was asked about the issue during a security forum in the United States, where he said that Mr Putin was "entirely too healthy".

Russia resumes Nord Stream gas supply

Russia resumed pumping gas via its biggest pipeline to Europe on Thursday after a 10-day outage, allaying some of Europe's immediate supply fears but not enough to end the threat of rationing to cope with potential winter shortages.

Supplies via Nord Stream 1, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, were halted for maintenance on July 11 but, even before that outage, flows had been cut to 40 per cent of the pipeline's capacity in a dispute sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Thursday's flows were back at that 40 per cent capacity level, Nord Stream figures showed, a day after Mr Putin warned that supplies could be cut further or even stop.

The resumption of Nord Stream supplies at levels that remain well below the pipeline's capacity means Germany, which is particularly reliant on Russian fuel, and other European economies are still struggling to find enough gas for winter.

"In view of the missing 60 per cent and the political instability, there is no reason yet to give the all-clear," German network regulator president Klaus Mueller wrote on Twitter.

Gas flows via other pipeline routes, such as Ukraine, have also fallen since Russia invaded its neighbour in February, in what Moscow calls a "special military operation".

Germany and several other states have already activated the first stages of emergency plans that in some cases could lead to rationing. Greece said on Thursday it would implement rotating power cuts as a last resort if necessary. 

The EU aims to have gas storage facilities across the bloc 80 per cent full by November 1. Inventories are now about two-thirds full, with a slowing pace of refilling. 

Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, did not respond to a request for comment.

To try to prevent a winter supply crunch, the European Commission has proposed a voluntary target for all EU states to cut gas use by 15 per cent from August to March compared to usage in same period of 2016-2021.

The Commission proposal would enable Brussels to make the target mandatory in a supply emergency.

Several southern EU states opposed the plan, which needs a broad majority of support in the 27-nation bloc to proceed.

Portugal said it would hamper power production during an extreme drought. Spain and Greece also voiced opposition. 

The Kremlin, which says Russia is a reliable energy supplier, blamed sanctions for reduced flows and denied EU Comission President Ursula Von der Leyen's accusations of blackmail.

"This is an absolutely wrong statement," Mr Peskov said on Thursday.

ABC/Reuters