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Vladimir Putin's annual press conference

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Putin to hold traditional annual press conference to close out 2021

This year the annual press conference will return to the in-person mode and will be held in the Moscow Manege

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold his large annual press conference on Thursday. He will speak with reporters for the 17th time in this format.

In-person press conference

This year the annual press conference will return to the in-person mode and will be held in the Moscow Manege. The event starts at 12:00 Moscow time. In 2020, Putin held the press conference in his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, with the majority of reporters talking to him over a video bridge.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov specified that this year the event was adapted to the pandemic situation technologically. "The situation is relatively calm from an epidemiological standpoint," the press secretary added.

He stressed that "it is always far more convenient for him (Putin) to see the people, and it is more convenient for the journalists, naturally, to ask questions personally," Peskov concluded.

Free questions - exhaustive answers

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out that it’s a classic press conference "with the free agenda, free questions and exhaustive answers by the head of state". According to him, the "questions were not written out in advance, they are all easily predictable".

As Peskov noted, the president’s greatest emotional response at such meetings is caused by questions about those issues "that are on his working agenda." He specified that Putin works on the socio-economic development of the country on a daily basis, all topics "related to people" are his priority. The Kremlin spokesman assumed that the Russian head of state may take some questions on international relations during his annual press conference. "This turbulence in international affairs hasn’t been seen perhaps for many, many decades," he said.

As the presidential press secretary said, this event is very important to Putin in terms of summarizing the year’s results, including in the economy, domestic politics, and international relations. According to Peskov, all this is of great interest, "and all this needs to be told.".

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