Putin once again canceled his annual address on the state of the country

Vladimir Putin decided not to deliver his annual address to the Federal Assembly in 2025, said the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov. "This is the decision of the head of state; it is his address," he explained, writes DW.

Vladimir Putin will not deliver his annual address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in 2025, said the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, to the newspaper "Vedomosti" on Thursday, December 25. "This is the decision of the head of state; it is his address," Peskov explained. "Once the president considers it necessary, it will take place - both in terms of the readiness of the content primarily and in terms of the working schedule. Everything will happen in due time," he added.

Putin's address was planned for February 2025

At the beginning of 2025, Russian media reported that preparations for the address were underway in February but were suspended. The decision was likely related to the organization of a possible meeting between Putin and Donald Trump, who returned to the presidency of the United States in January.

In early September, Dmitry Peskov stated that Vladimir Putin would deliver the address by the end of 2025. "Certainly, this year the address will take place. It must take place, and it will take place," the president's press secretary noted in an interview with the state agency TASS. The first report that Putin's address was canceled came in early November from the Telegram channel Faridaily, run by independent journalist Farida Rustamova, citing sources in the Russian government.

There were no annual addresses in 2017 and 2022

Article 84 of the Constitution of Russia stipulates that the president of the country addresses the Federal Assembly with "annual messages on the state of the country, on the main directions of domestic and foreign policy." However, Putin has already refused this event twice - in 2017 and 2022.

The first time, press secretary Peskov explained this by stating that there is no "legislative obligation to deliver an address before the geographical completion of the current year." At that time, the address was postponed to March 2018, closer to the presidential elections. Putin himself explained the refusal to deliver an address to the Federal Assembly in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, by saying that events were developing very dynamically, and it was "difficult" for him to determine specific plans for the near future.

The last time he addressed the Federal Assembly was on February 29, 2024 - three weeks before his re-election. At that time, Putin announced the start of new national projects and effectively formulated his election program, several participants in the preparation of the document told "Vedomosti."