27 Nov 2020 13:44

Putin to give virtual annual press conference on Dec 17 - Kremlin

MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax) - The annual press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin will take place on December 17, the Kremlin press service said on Friday.

"At 12 p.m. on November 29, 2020, the Press and Information Office of the President of the Russian Federation will begin the accreditation of journalists to the annual press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin due on December 17, 2020," the press service said.

"Given the complicated epidemiological situation, the press conference will be held in the virtual format this time," it said.

"There are plans that the president will give the press conference from his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo," the press service said.

Meanwhile, representatives of federal and regional foreign media outlets will be operating in the customary format on the premises of the World Trade Center Moscow. Journalists of regional media outlets will be able to take part in the press conference without leaving their federal districts: special venues will be assigned in every federal district for the video-link with Moscow. The number of participants will be restricted consistent with the guidelines from the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor).

According to the press service, such venues will open in Moscow, Tula, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Stavropol, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, and Vladivostok.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press on Friday that the upcoming press conference would be quite long.

"Clearly, I can't say for sure but, considering the designated venues [for interaction between journalists and the president] and the combined formats of a Q&A session and a press conference, of course, I presume it will be a rather long and substantive event," he said.

The longest annual press conference of Putin took place in 2008: it lasted for four hours and 40 minutes. The president answered more than 100 questions.

Putin will give the 16th annual press conference this year.