President Vladimir Putin is set to hold his traditional end-of-year news conference on Thursday to answer questions from Russian and foreign journalists
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th December, 2019) President Vladimir Putin is set to hold his traditional end-of-year news conference on Thursday to answer questions from Russian and foreign journalists.
The practice of holding a large annual news conference was introduced by Putin during his first term as Russian president in 2001.
The first such conference was held on July 18, 2001, in the run-up to the Genoa G8 summit. Nearly 400 journalists took part in the event, during which Putin answered 22 questions.
The journalists were interested in Putin's position on Russia's economic and political development, the course of reforms in the country, prospects for Russia's continued integration in the international community and his opinion on key international issues.
Putin's second large news conference was held on June 24, 2002, and lasted for over two hours. The Russian president answered 37 questions. He announced a number of initiatives, including the introduction of a single tax on the agriculture industry, and commented on Russia's domestic and foreign policy. The conference was attended by about 700 Russian and foreign journalists.
The third large news conference took place on June 20, 2003, and lasted for two hours and 45 minutes. It was attended by over 700 journalists. The president answered 53 questions.
Most questions concerned domestic matters, including poverty reduction, military reform, tax reforms, the upcoming presidential election, the party system and changes in the cabinet. During the conference, the priority was given to the regional media, who asked almost two-thirds of the questions. The president also answered two personal questions about his vacation plans and his daughters' educational achievements.
Putin held his fourth large news conference on December 23, 2004. The event, during which the president answered 51 questions, lasted just over three hours. But, in fact, the number of answered questions exceeded 100, since many of them included two or three topics.
The vast majority of questions concerned Russia's domestic policies and only 15 questions concerned international issues. The press conference was broadcast live by the Channel One and Rossiya, on the radio station Mayak, as well as on the president's official website, both in Russian and English, with simultaneous translation.
About 690 Russian and foreign journalists were accredited for the event.
There was no large news conference in 2005.
The fifth large news conference was held in the Kremlin on January 31, 2006. The event lasted three hours 26 minutes. Putin answered about 140 questions from 65 journalists. Over 1,000 media representatives were accredited for the news conference.
Key questions posed to the president concerned gas conflicts in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the victory of the Hamas movement in the Palestinian elections, the situation in the Russian Armed Forces, the status of non-governmental organizations in Russia, the spy scandal and Putin's possible successor. Journalists also posed a number of questions related to the president's personal life.
On February 1, 2007, Putin held his sixth large news conference, which lasted for over 3.5 hours.
The president took questions from 50 Russian and 16 foreign journalists, including six reporters from CIS countries. Over 1,100 journalists were accredited for the event.
Most questions were related to Russia's domestic issues. Journalists also asked the president about his possible "successor" and his plans after 2008.
The seventh large news conference was held in the Kremlin on February 14, 2008, and lasted a record four hours and 40 minutes, with 1,364 journalists accredited for the event. Putin answered 106 questions from 80 reporters.
Thorny issues concerned the immigration policy in the Stavropol Region, elections in the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Ingushetia, the decreased quality of secondary education in Russia, rising inflation and the possibility that Putin would run for the third term.
President Dmitry Medvedev held his first large news conference on May 18, 2011. Unlike Putin, Medvedev held annual live interviews with the heads of the three leading Russian television channels - the Channel One, Rossiya and NTV.
Medvedev's large news conference was held in the Skolkovo business center and lasted for more than two hours. The then-president answered 42 questions from 33 reporters. Overall, 815 journalists, including 300 foreign reporters, were accredited for the event.
Unlike Putin, Medvedev hosted the news conference himself. He first answered questions from the audience and then picked four questions posed online.
In light of the upcoming presidential elections in 2012, most questions concerned Medvedev's future in politics and issues related to the government structure and Russia's political system as well as the election of governors.
Many questions concerned legal and judicial matters, including the high-profile cases against former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and tax and legal consultant Sergei Magnitsky. Fewer questions concerned social and economic issues.
Following his reelection, Putin held a large news conference on December 20, 2012.The event took place at the World Trade Center on the Krasnopresnenskaya Naberezhnaya in Moscow.
The event lasted for about 4.5 hours, with 1,226 journalists accredited for the event. Putin answered 81 questions, with some of the journalists asking two or three questions at once. Journalists from Federal, regional, and foreign media outlets posed their questions to the president, including reporters from Georgia, Ukraine, China, the United States and Poland.
Questions mostly concerned political, economic and social issues. A law banning the adoption of Russian children by US nationals was a particularly popular topic. Seven reporters touched upon this subject in one way or another in their questions. The president was also asked about the possible date of the end of the world and giving the Russian citizenship to French actor Gerard Depardieu.
The ninth annual news conference was held on December 19, 2013, at the World Trade Center. The event lasted for just over four hours, with over 1,300 Russian and foreign journalists participating in the conference.
The president answered 52 questions from 42 Russian and 10 foreign journalists from five magazines, 15 television channels, nine news agencies, 18 newspapers, one radio station and five online media outlets.
Ukraine and the rallies in support of its EU integration in Kiev were one of the key questions about international politics. The president also addressed issues regarding the deployment by Russia of the Iskander missile systems at the border as well as the plans of the United States to impose new sanctions against Iran. Putin also promised to consider canceling visas for Georgians and denied allegations that Russia planned to send troops to Crimea.
After the news conference, Putin told journalists that Khodorkovsky had submitted a clemency petition, which he was going to approve with a presidential decree.
Putin's 10th news conference took place on December 18, 2014, in the same venue. With 1,259 Russian and foreign reporters accredited for the event, Putin spent three hours and 10 minutes answering 53 questions from 38 reporters.
The president started the conference by reviewing Russia's economic indicators and plans for the coming years. Questions mostly concerned the economic situation in the country and the stability of the ruble. The president once again accused the West of trying to "chain the bear [Russia] up" and described the sanctions against Russia as the payment for its attempt to pursue the independent policy. Answering questions about Ukraine, the president said that, as for the Ukrainian conflict, the truth was on Russia's side.
Putin's 11th news conference was held on December 17, 2015. It ran for over three hours, with the president having answered 47 questions from 32 journalists, including 27 Russian and five foreign reporters.
Putin spoke about the economic situation in Russia, the work of the government, as well as relations with Turkey, Moscow's actions in Syria and the situation in Ukraine. He also addressed Russia's domestic issues, including the plans to increase the retirement age and the investigation into the murder of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov, among other issues.
After the conference, Putin answered several more questions, including about US President Donald Trump and the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.
The 12th news conference of Putin was held on December 23, 2016. The event was broadcast live by the Channel One, Rossiya 1 and Rossiya 24 television channels, by Mayak, Vesti FM, and Radio Rossii radio stations, as well as by the Public Television of Russia.
The conference lasted for three hours and 50 minutes. During the event, the Russian leader answered 67 questions from 48 journalists.
The questions focused on domestic and regional issues, as well as on relations with other countries, including the United States and Turkey, as well as crises in Syria and Ukraine.
Putin's 13th news conference took place on December 14, 2017 at the World Trade Center, with more than 1,640 journalists participating in the event.
The conference was broadcast by the Rossiya 1 and Rossiya 24 television channels, by Mayak, Vesti FM, and Radio Rossii radio stations, as well as by Public Television of Russia.
Putin spent three hours and 40 minutes answering 73 questions from 54 reporters. Putin announced that he would run in the March 18 presidential election as an independent candidate.
The president also stressed that he would like to see a balanced political environment in Russia with a healthy political competition, adding at the same time that the opposition did not propose a real agenda.
Putin answered questions concerning Russian-US relations, but refused to evaluate the work of his US counterpart, Donald Trump. He also paid attention to the crisis in Ukraine and sharply commented on the actions of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
In addition, Putin revealed some details of his visit to the air base of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria's Hmeimim.
The president held his 14th news conference on December 20, 2018, which became his first after the 2018 reelection. A record-high number of journalists - 1,700 - were accredited to the annual event at the World Trade Center.
The marathon presser lasted 3 hours and 43 minutes, with 53 journalists - 24 women and 29 men - having asked a total of 66 questions to Putin.
The Russian leader fielded questions about the economy, implementation of national projects and housing issues. He was also told about problems that people face in various Russian regions. A lot of attention was paid to issues related to Ukraine, including the November 2018 Kerch Strait incident, situation in Donbas and push for autocephaly of Ukraine's new church.
Putin was also asked about the threat of a nuclear war, Syria, Russian-US relations and the prospects for a meeting with President Donald Trump, as well as sanctions.
