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Kremlin dismisses reports saying security issues will be in focus of presidential address

Vladimir Putin will make the annual state-of-the-nation address in December

SOCHI, November 11./TASS/. The Kremlin has dismissed media reports saying security issues will be the focal point in President Putin’s state of the nation address following the crash of a Russian Airbus A321 in Egypt.

"No, this is not so," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in reply to a query whether these reports were true. He declined to name the topics of the upcoming address to the Federal Assembly. "Have we ever told you [about the topics]?" he asked. "What makes you hope this will happen this year?" he asked with surprise.

Earlier, the head of the Kremlin administration, Sergey Ivanov, said Putin would make the annual state of the nation address in December, adding that preparations were already underway.