Putin’s direct line and press conference will be held on December 14

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a direct line and annual large press conference on December 14. This was reported by Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

This is Putin’s first major press conference since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

The venue will be announced on December 1. Then the reception of questions on the direct line will begin. They will be accepted by phone, SMS and the Internet, Peskov added.

Last year, against the background of the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine, the Kremlin did not hold a direct line or a press conference. The Moscow Times wrote that Putin personally took the decision not to follow a straight line because of possible sabotage from Ukraine.

Initially, it was assumed that the direct line would be held in the summer this year (since 2017, it was held in June). However, later sources in the presidential administration said that the event will be postponed until the end of the year – after “certainty with the situation at the front”.

This year, the press conference and direct line will be held on the eve of the presidential elections, which by law must be held on March 17, 2024.

RBC notes that before the last presidential campaign, a press conference was also held on December 14.

As previously reported by RIA “Novosti” with reference to sources in the Russian Parliament, the Federation Council may officially set the date of the presidential elections in Russia at a meeting on December 13.

On December 17, in turn, the United Russia party congress will be held, which may nominate Putin for the presidency.

So far, Vladimir Putin has not publicly announced his participation in the future presidential campaign.

Vladimir Putin became president for the first time in 2000 and has four terms left (with a break for 2008-2012). Amendments to the Constitution adopted at the initiative of Putin himself allow him to run for the fifth term. As Reuters points out, Putin has already ruled the country longer than anyone in the last hundred years, with the exception of Joseph Stalin.