MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov expects that the annual press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin planned for December 17 will be long and informative, he told reporters on Friday when asked about the duration of the conference, considering that its format will be different due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"Of course, we can assume that it will be a rather long and informative event," the spokesman said, adding that the duration of the conference cannot be determined exactly.
Since 2001, Putin has held the major year-end news conference every year, except for the period of his premiership in May 2008-May 2012. He resumed the tradition after his election for a six-year term in 2012. On all previous occasions, the head of state answered media questions for several hours in a live broadcast. The event was invariably the focus of attention of the mass media and the public at large.
The first news conference in 2001 was also the shortest one (1 hour and 35 minutes). The longest one in 2008 lasted for 4 hours and 40 minutes. Starting from 2004, all news conferences continued for more than three hours.
In 2019, Putin talked to reporters for 4 hours and 18 minutes, answering questions by 57 media representatives.