Year-end press conference, Kremlin reception and phone calls with the public canceled: the Russian president will not hold live events
First a week of continuous television appearances in different circumstances, but always among more than trustworthy people, from whom no embarrassing questions could be expected.
And then the canonical appointment announcements canceled without an official explanation: no end-of-year press conference, no reception in the Kremlin. There are no communications on the annual direct line with telephone calls from the public, but it seems that even in this case the agenda of Vladimir Putin will be too full.
For now, the speech to the United Chambers that the Russian president is obliged to give on the basis of the Constitution remains scheduled, even if the date of December 27 has not been confirmed.
What happens? Kremlin critics have no doubts: Vladimir Vladimirovich he wants to avoid occasions when he might be faced with off-line statements or questions about the Special Military Operation in Ukraine or even uncomfortable. This is because the events we have been talking about were traditionally held live.
But it must be said that in any case it would be very simple for the president’s collaborators to organize everything so as to avoid nasty surprises. As is often the case.
At the annual press conference, to which hundreds and hundreds of journalists are accredited, the floor is almost always given solely to reporters who ask for what is not unwelcome at the top of the country. And the phone calls live coverage of Russian citizens (marathons that typically last four hours) seem carefully filtered.
On the other hand, in recent days it has been seen that the president can safely participate in public demonstrations without running any risk. At the end of November, for example, there was the meeting broadcast on TV with the soldiers’ mothers
. Only the representatives of the main association that has been dealing with the fate of young conscripts for years were excluded from the event. And that they were ready to ask at least difficult questions about the poor training of the recruits and the shortage of equipment.
Last Wednesday Putin met the Council for the respect of human rights. A few days earlier, the members of the body who had expressed a willingness to confront the president on the condition of Russian prisons had been removed by presidential decree.
Thursday was another quiet appointment with the officers to whom he presented the gold star of Hero of Russia. The president was also filmed chatting informally with the newly decorated. None of them, of course, could have anything nasty to say to Putin.
Finally, the week ended on Friday with a press conference on the sidelines of a regional summit in Kyrgyzstan. But the Russian journalists were those of the so-called Kremlin pool, selected correspondents who always cover the president’s trips. Perhaps Putin will meet with these reporters again before the end of the year to show that he is talking to the press.
In the end, there will in all probability be the usual end-of-year message. Five minutes at 11.55pm on December 31st to wish the Russians a happy birthday.
No confirmation instead to the hypothesis of some President’s illness advanced by someone. In the Kremlin they don’t even deny it now. All kinds of ailments have been attributed to Putin over the years.
December 14, 2022 (change December 14, 2022 | 07:12)
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