Russian President Vladimir Putin has canceled public appearances on a fast schedule. Researcher Arkady Moshes thinks that one of the reasons is that Putin has nothing new to tell.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin is not going to give the policy speech of the year ending, i.e. his annual speech to the country’s federal council as planned.
Putin’s press chief Dmitry Peskov confirmed the matter on Wednesday. At the same time, he said that Putin will also cancel other appearances at the end of the year.
Researcher at the Finnish Foreign Policy Institute Arkady Moshes tells that the cancellations are not surprising for many reasons. Read about why in this story.
Public appearances for the rest of the year are cancelled
Putin was scheduled to deliver a policy speech to the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, on December 27. Now the talk is moving, but the Kremlin has not yet announced a new date. According to Peskov, the talk may still take place later this month.
The last time Putin spoke at the Federal Assembly was in April 2021. The Russian constitution requires the president to address the country’s lawmakers every year, according to a news website that reads as independent media. Meduza (you will switch to another service).
Peskov said on Wednesday that Putin is not going to hold his annual press conference, where he usually answers questions from the audience.
Putin will also not participate in the traditional New Year’s Eve ice hockey match in the Kremlin, Peskov said.
Putin held his traditional year-end press conference in December last year, when the press conference was a carefully orchestrated media show.
According to the British Ministry of Defence, Kremlin officials are wary of Putin’s participation in public events because the conversation might turn unpleasantly to the so-called “special operation”, i.e. the war of aggression started by Russia in Ukraine.
Researcher Arkady Moshes says he is not surprised by the president’s cancellations.
– Putin likes to surprise. He may announce his appearance at very short notice.
Putin would not present himself as a victorious leader
In the past, Putin has been able to benefit from his appearances, but this time there is no certainty about the benefits. According to Moshes, Putin is now unable to present himself as a victorious leader with something new to say.
Putin may not have a line in his speech about what to tell the people or journalists. Answering questions from citizens or journalists may therefore be difficult.
– He has appeared in recent weeks, repeating the things he wanted to bring out. He has nothing encouraging and impressive to say now, Moshes estimates.
Health reasons in the background
Putin was very careful during the corona epidemic. During the pandemic, a system was even created to protect Putin and other high-ranking officials from the coronavirus with billions of roubles.
According to Moshes, due to the raging flu epidemic in Russia, Putin wants to avoid human contact.
– One option could also be that the 70-year-old president is simply tired.
Fear of a security threat
Even if Putin is not afraid of attacks on him, the fear of sabotage may affect the president’s willingness to appear.
– The fear could also be that Ukrainian security forces would strike during the speech. Alternatively, the fear could be a fire or some other threat that has been seen in Russia recently.
– If, for example, Russia’s energy infrastructure were to be attacked during Putin’s speech, the bottom would fall out of Putin’s speech, Arkady Moshes estimates.
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