"Putin to Hold Press Conference Next Month"... Will He Officially Announce Presidential Run?

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to hold a large-scale press conference in mid-next month, local media reported.

Russian media outlet RBC reported on the 10th (local time), citing sources familiar with the matter, that President Putin's press conference is scheduled for the 14th of next month.

This press conference is planned to be held on a larger scale than before, combined with a live broadcast event where President Putin answers questions from the public on the spot. The day before, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had announced that an event combining the two would be held within this year. Both events were held annually but were not held last year due to the impact of the Ukraine "special military operation."

The last public dialogue event took place in June 2021 and lasted 3 hours and 42 minutes, while the press conference continued for 4 hours and 29 minutes in December 2021. At that time, the public and journalists focused their questions on President Putin regarding the impact of COVID-19 and vaccination.

RBC noted that this event is being held ahead of the presidential election scheduled for March 17 next year. President Putin also held a large-scale press conference on December 14, 2017, ahead of the last presidential election. At that conference, President Putin drew attention by announcing his intention to run as an independent candidate in the March 2018 election. However, the Russian daily Kommersant predicted in June that the likelihood of President Putin announcing his candidacy at this event is low.

President Putin has not yet officially declared his candidacy for re-election next year. If re-elected, his term will be extended until 2030.

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