Putin to give his 15th annual press conference
MOSCOW. Dec 19 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will give his 15th annual press conference, which is to take place at the World Trade Center in Moscow.
The press conference traditionally starts at noon. There is no time limit for the press conference, but usually it lasts no less than three hours. The number of journalists wishing to ask Putin a question grows year by year. In 2019, 1,895 Russian and foreign journalists have been accredited to cover the press conference. The figure stood at about 1,700 last year.
Putin has been giving annual press conferences since 2001. They usually take place on a Thursday in December. The only exception was 2016, when Putin moved the press conference to a Friday, as he considered it impossible to meet with journalists on the day when Ambassador Andrei Karlov, who was killed in Turkey, was buried.
The longest press conference took place in 2008. Putin spoke for four hours and 40 minutes, answering more than 100 questions.
In 2018, the press conference lasted for 3 hours 45 minutes. Putin answered 61 questions.