This cancellation, very rare, comes in a context of military setbacks accumulated by Russia in Ukraine and Western sanctions imposed on Moscow.
“By the start of the new year, there will be noof the president’s press conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a telephone briefing, noting that Vladimir Putin spoke to the press on other occasions, including during his trips to the foreign.
Vladimir Putin’s big face-to-face with the press had been organized every year since 2001, with the exception of the period between 2008 and 2012, when he held the post of Prime Minister.
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Bringing together hundreds of Russian and foreign journalists, this annual press conference usually lasts several hours, with the Russian leader answering live questions on all sorts of topics, from diplomacy to everyday Russian issues.
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The president’s responses to the media often amounted to orders given to the government or regional authorities.
The decision not to hold the end-of-year press conference comes as Russia, which launched a military offensive against Ukraine in February, has suffered several military setbacks in recent months and decreed a partial mobilization in September.
Hit by a shower of Western sanctions since the start of this offensive, Russia now faces an embargo on the delivery of its oil to the EU.