Peskov confirmed Putin’s plans to continue meeting with heads of regions

President Vladimir Putin will continue to meet with the heads of regions, among them with a high probability will be those whose powers expire this year, said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the head of state.

“We haven’t announced meetings with regional leaders for such a long time. But I can only confirm that the president will indeed continue his practice of regular meetings with the heads of regions. Surely, among them there will be those whose term of office is expiring, ”said the Kremlin spokesman.

On the question of whether topics will be discussed at these meetings with the nomination of these chapters for a new term, Peskov noted that this depends on the leaders of the regions themselves. “Those who find it necessary to discuss this with the president, they will raise this issue,” he added.

“Vedomosti” earlier wrote about the fact that Putin held a series of meetings with the heads of regions who are to be re-elected in the autumn, but in their public part there was no talk of elections. For example, in October 2022, he spoke with the governors of the Magadan, Ivanovo and Samara regions Sergey Nosov, Stanislav Voskresensky and Dmitry Azarov. In November, he received the head of the Altai Territory, Viktor Tomenko, and in January 2023, the head of the Novosibirsk Region, Andrey Travnikov.

According to two sources close to the presidential administration, Putin is to meet with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Later, another interlocutor says, there may also be a meeting with the head of the Oryol region, communist Andrei Klychkov, who is also waiting for elections in 2023.