Vladimir Putin cancels annual speech

• Putin will not give his traditional end-of-year marathon press conference.
• Russian media had speculated about the address’s date.
• Dmitry Peskov said it was due to Mr. Putin’s “business schedule.”

The Kremlin has announced that Vladimir Putin will not give his traditional end-of-year marathon press conference this month.

It indicates the president won’t give his annual state-of-the-nation speech to parliament this year.

Russian media had speculated about the address’s date, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was due to Mr. Putin’s “business schedule.”

We expect him to make a public comment soon during a defense ministry meeting.

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