In December 2014, Putin acknowledged during a press conference that his personal life was 'all right'. He stated: 'A friend of mine from Europe, a big chief, asked me: 'Listen do you have a love?'
''What do you mean?', I asked him. 'I mean, do you love someone?'
''Well, yes'.
''And does someone love you?' I said: 'Well, yes.'
'I wonder if he thought if I gone wild. So then he said 'Oh well thank God for that' - and downed a shot of vodka.
'So everything is all right, don't you worry.' said Putin.
There was speculation his anonymous friend from Europe was Silvio Berlusconi but this was never confirmed.
At the time, Putin stressed that he is 'kind relations' with former wife Lyudmila.
'We regularly see each other. Needless to say about children, this goes without saying. Not that I see them as often as I would like to, but everything is all right,' he said.