News reports in Japan say Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has postponed a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month because of the Russian leader's poor health.

Japan's Kyodo and Jiji newspapers reported Friday that the mayor of a northern Japanese town told Mr. Noda Friday that Mr. Putin's health condition is bad.

However, the Kremlin denied the reports, with Mr. Putin's spokesman, Dmitriy Peskov saying the president's health problems have been exaggerated. Peskov has denied that Mr. Putin is suffering back problems from a sports injury.

The spokesman said that since a meeting between the two leaders had not been officially scheduled, there should be no talk about a postponement.