A newly-public 2008 report from a Pentagon think tank suggests that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have Asperger’s syndrome.

Putin has “an autistic disorder which affects all of his decisions,” according to the report obtained by USA Today through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Though unable to confirm a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, the report indicates that the Russian leader’s behaviors point to a “neurological abnormality.”

The study dated January 2008 was prepared by Brenda Connors, an expert in movement pattern analysis at the U.S. Naval War College, for the Office of Net Assessment at the U.S. Department of Defense.

The document cites Stephen Porges — currently a psychiatry professor at the University of North Carolina — as an autism specialist who affirmed that the Russian leader’s behavior “reveals Putin carries a form of autism.”

However, Porges told USA Today this week that he never saw the final report and backed off the Asperger’s claim. Nonetheless, Porges said that government officials should be mindful of how they approach Putin.

“If you need to do things with him, you don’t want to be in a big state affair but more of one-on-one situation someplace somewhere quiet,” Porges told the newspaper.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest declined to comment Thursday when asked if the Obama administration believes that Putin has Asperger’s syndrome.

The Kremlin is reportedly dismissing the suggestion.

“That is stupidity not worthy of comment,” Agence France-Presse reports that Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Gazeta.ru.

(Updated: February 6, 2015 at 11:35 AM CT)

Read more stories like this one. Sign up for Disability Scoop's free email newsletter to get the latest developmental disability news sent straight to your inbox.