Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to deliver his annual address to the Federal Assembly at noon Moscow time. This marks the 29th address in modern Russian history and the 19th for Putin.
The specific topics of Putin's speech have not been announced in advance. However, Putin has indicated that the upcoming address, considering the domestic political calendar, will outline tasks for the next six years.
Preparations for the address have been extensive. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Putin personally worked on the text, engaging in "dozens of telephone and personal contacts" with ministers, deputy prime ministers, and heads of agencies.
The address will be held in Gostiny Dvor, with the Department of Transport warning of closures in the city center near Varvarka and Ilyinka streets. TASS will provide an online broadcast, and the address will also be shown live on federal TV channels and street screens in major cities.
Guests of the address will include senators and deputies of the State Duma, members of the government, representatives of the Presidential Administration, heads of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, members of the State Council, the Public Chamber, governors, representatives of major faiths, diplomats, and journalists, including foreign ones.
Participants of the special military operation (SMO) will also be invited, as was the case in 2023.
Attendees must pass a PCR test for coronavirus, and are prohibited from bringing weapons, stabbing and cutting objects, pyrotechnics, means of disguise, any drones, food and alcohol, vapes. Flags and banners (except for small posters of A4 format) are listed separately. Pocket lighters, medicines in their original packaging, and religious books for personal use are permitted.
The address is an annual public declaration to both chambers of parliament, assessing the state of affairs in the country and setting the main directions of domestic and foreign policy. The content and form of the address are determined by the president.
Last year, Putin's address covered a range of topics, including the reasons for the start of the SMO, socio-economic development programs for new constituent entities of the Russian Federation, measures to stimulate the economy under sanctions, and the suspension of Russia's participation in the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.
Addresses are of a recommendatory nature and are not legal acts, but they have increasingly taken on the character of legislative initiatives, containing specific instructions for the government. In recent years, these addresses have included a list of instructions, with last year's address consisting of 35 instructions.
Putin's speeches have varied in length and content. The longest was in 2018, lasting 1 hour and 55 minutes, while the shortest were in 2004 and 2005, each lasting 48 minutes. On average, speeches in previous years took 1 hour and 10 minutes and consisted of more than 7,000 words.
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Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS