Putin joked about the length of his message

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a conversation with veterans in the Alexander Garden, admitted that it would be difficult for him to listen to his message to the Federal Assembly, since it went on for two hours.

“So you mentioned, you said about the message. And you know, of course, it’s very hard to listen to everything. Almost two hours. I would have had a hard time listening to all this myself if I had to listen. It’s easier to say than to listen, ”Putin said (quote according to RIA Novosti).

Past February 21, 2023 Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly lasted 1 hour 45 minutes. In addition to members of both houses of parliament and heads of regions, participants in the special operation were also invited to the message this year. During his speech, Putin raised geopolitical issues, in particular, accusing Western leaders of “cruel lies” and said that they were “playing for time, engaged in chicanery” because negotiations on the supply of weapons and equipment to Ukraine were conducted even before the start of the special operation. The President also stressed that Russia was doing everything possible to solve the problem peacefully. During the message, the president expressed gratitude to the participants in the special operation, touched upon issues of social policy, the development of new regions of Russia, the modernization of the army and navy, and the Russian economy.

The speech of the head of state became one of the longest appeals to the Parliament. According to RIA Novosti estimates, Putin mentioned the West 24 times in his message, the United States 11 more times, and Ukraine was mentioned 19 times in the president’s speech. Also, the hall applauded the Russian leader 53 times, standing – four times.

The last time Putin spoke to the Federal Assembly was on April 21, 2021. Then the message lasted 1 hour and 12 minutes. Putin’s longest address to parliament was the 2018 address, which ran for 1 hour and 57 minutes.