Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking part in a 2-in-1 event on Thursday, his first major press conference since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, which he will combine with his famous marathon question-and-answer session with his fellow citizens, according to reports EFE and dpa.

The Kremlin announced the day before that Putin was “preparing” all day Wednesday for the event, which usually takes place annually, but which was canceled in 2022, writes Agerpres.

Vladimir Putin opened the conference with numbers on the Russian economy, which he said was not only recovering but growing after being hit hard by Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine.

The most important statements of Vladimir Putin at the marathon conference:

11:36 amPeace in Ukraine will come when Russia achieves its goals, including the desanification and demilitarization of Ukraine, Putin said.

Currently, Kyiv “gets everything for free,” referring to military aid from Ukraine’s Western allies, and added that the conflict may be ending, “and it looks like it is ending.”

Putin said that some 486,000 people have now voluntarily signed up for military service under contract, in addition to the 300,000 who were called up last year, and “the flow is not slowing down”.

11:29Putin claims that there is no need to mobilize recruits and notes that Western aid to Ukraine has ended.

11:20Annual inflation in Russia could reach 8 percent this year, Putin said, a day before the central bank raised interest rates to 16 percent to curb rising prices.

11:00 a.m Putin started a marathon conference. The head of the Kremlin declares that the minimum income will increase by 18%.

Representatives of Russian federal and regional mass media, as well as foreign journalists accredited in Russia, are present at the conference, TASS reports. The discussion will be moderated by the press secretary of the head of state, Dmytro Peskov, as well as the anchor of the First Channel, Kateryna Berezovska, and the journalist of the Russia-1 TV channel, Pavlo Zarubin.

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According to Russian television, which will broadcast the double event live, more than 1.5 million questions have so far been submitted by Russians via the Internet or by phone.

Putin is expected to select some of the issues raised by citizens, as well as answer questions from some media representatives who will also be present in the hall.

The Russian presidency previously emphasized that this year, despite the conflict with the West, several representatives of Western media accredited in this country will be able to attend Putin’s conference.

Putin should review the situation on the Ukrainian front, where Russian troops have been seizing the initiative for several weeks, writes EFE, adding that Russia’s lack of success in the military campaign was considered one of the reasons for the conflict last year. cancellation – for the first time in 10 years – of Putin’s intervention at the end of the year.

Putin will also talk about the international situation

In addition to Ukraine, Putin will talk about the international situation, the confrontation with the West and economic problems, including the measures taken by the Russian authorities regarding the sanctions imposed on Moscow.

The head of the Kremlin could also talk about his election campaign, given that he recently announced his candidacy for the presidential election in March 2024.

Initially, it was planned that Putin would announce his candidacy at a press conference on Thursday, as he did in 2004, when he ran for a second term. This time, however, Putin, who has been in power since 2000, took advantage of the Russian military awards ceremony to make a long-awaited announcement.

This year, the Kremlin decided to combine the press conference with the poll of citizens, which used to be held in the first and second half of each year, respectively.

The last conference, in 2021

The last such interventions by the Russian leader, who turned 71 in October, took place in June 2021.

Putin reformed the Constitution in 2020 to be able to stay in the Kremlin for two terms of more than six years each, until 2036, EFE reminds.

Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said on Wednesday that Thursday’s meeting would begin at 10:00 a.m. local time (08:00 GMT) and last about three hours. However, Peskov noted that there is no deadline for the event, knowing that such marathon meetings of Putin can last up to four hours.

Unlike previous wrap-up conferences, this time there was no formal accreditation process, and the Kremlin sent out invitations only to individual journalists chosen on the fly.